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 #41 in Penguins’ history.
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Seven players have worn #41 for the Penguins, and no one wore the number until 2002, when forward Shane Endicott donned it for only four games. Since then, it has been worn by players such as Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Skoula, and Daniel Sprong.
The best #41 in franchise history, however, is defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
Bortuzzo was selected by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and spent parts of four seasons between 2011-15 with the team before his trade to the St. Louis Blues in 2015. He spent chunks of time going between Pittsburgh and AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, in addition to chunks of time on IR.
But when he was in Pittsburgh – and when he was healthy – he was pretty serviceable for the Penguins. He was never known much for his offensive ability, but he was pretty sound in his own end and wasn’t afraid to engage in fisticuffs, which is something he did quite frequently.
And he still contributed occasionally on offense, albeit very occasionally, as he registered only four goals and 20 points in 113 games with the Penguins.
But he did score his first NHL goal on Martin Brodeur, which has to count for something, right?
Bortuzzo was traded to St. Louis, along with seventh-round pick, for defenseman Ian Cole. He spent parts of 10 seasons in St. Louis before being traded to the New York Islanders during the 2023-24 season.
He signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Utah Hockey Club in summer 2024.
Honorable Mentions: Jocelyn Thibault, Daniel Sprong
Related: Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #40
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