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 #33 in Penguins’ history.
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Twenty-two players have worn #33. Doug Bodger, a defenseman, wore it for one season in 1985 but was mainly #8. Marty McSorley, a defenseman and a right wing, wore it in 1994.
But there was another defenseman who was a legitimate offensive threat before he was traded in 1991. And that was Zarley Zalapski.
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Zalapski was drafted fourth overall by the Penguins in 1986 and was with the Penguins from 1988 until the trade deadline in 1991 (which we’ll get to later).
He pretty much made an impression right away. Zalapski scored three goals and put up 11 points in his first 15 games, and it was apparent early on that he had a commanding presence in the offensive zone.
Over the course of his Penguins’ career, Zalapski registered 33 goals and 135 points in 190 games, playing on the top pairing alongside Paul Coffey and often sharing the same ice with Mario Lemieux. He had a heavy shot and, like Coffey, was an avid skater.
And during the 1990-91 season – in which he put up 12 goals and 48 points in 66 games – he was one of the league leaders in scoring by defensemen.
Because Zalapski was a legitimate defensive talent, it eventually made it more palatable to then-Hartford GM Eddie Johnston – formerly the Penguins’ GM – to trade a franchise player to Pittsburgh.
On March 4, 1991, Zalapski and forwards John Cullen and Jeff Parker were traded to the Whalers in exchange for Ron Francis, Grant Jennings, and Ulf Samuelsson, which still resonates as one of the biggest and most lopsided trades in NHL history – that is, in favor of the Penguins.
Zalapski played for Hartford until the 1994 trade deadline, when he went to Calgary. He also played for Montreal and Philadelphia before retiring from the NHL in 2000 with 99 goals and 384 points in 637 career games.
He died tragically at the age of 49 in 2017 due to complications from a viral infection.
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