Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #15

The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ organizational history has a plethora of great players, and we’ve decided to go through the best Penguins’ players to wear each jersey number. Today, we continue the list by naming the best #15 in Penguins’ history.

Throughout franchise history, 29 different players have worn #15. Today, we’ll discuss a player who won a Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 1992 and was a big part of some good Penguins’ teams in the years to follow: Shawn McEachern.

McEachern was a rookie when the Penguins won their second Stanley Cup in 1992. He registered two goals and nine points in 19 playoff games that year after playing just 15 games in the regular season.

After that, his career took off. The very next season in 1992-93 – arguably the best team season in franchise history – McEachern scored 28 goals and put up 61 points in 84 games. He began to show off his penchant for goal-scoring with his soft hands and quick release:

He was also a strong forechecker and excelled at creating scoring chances, often making something out of nothing by creating space, using physicality, and demonstrating his high hockey IQ:

McEachren spent time in different parts of the Penguins’ lineup alongside great players such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Stevens, and Ron Francis. He was a key part of the Penguins’ power play as well.

Ironically, he was traded in the summer of 1993 to the Los Angeles Kings for Marty McSorley, then the Penguins re-acquired him and Tomas Sandstrom less than a year later before the 1994 trade deadline by sending back McSorley and defenseman Jim Paek to the Kings.

Over the course of his Penguins’ career, McEachren registered 53 goals and 112 points in 170 games. He played for the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and Atlanta Thrashers before retiring in 2006 with 256 goals and 579 points in 911 career games.

Honorable Mentions: Randy Cunneyworth, Pat Boutette, Dmitri Mironov

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