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 #62 in Penguins’ history.
There has only been one player to don #62. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and, arguably, the subject of one of the more controversial trades in franchise history.
The best and only #62 in Penguins history is Carl Hagelin.
Hagelin – known for his blazing speed and penalty-killing ability – was drafted in the sixth round of the NHL Draft by the New York Rangers in 2007. Prior to his stint in Pittsburgh, he was known for his playoff overtime goal for the Rangers in Game 5 of the 2015 East Quarterfinals to eliminate the Penguins:
Hagelin was traded to the Anaheim Ducks during that same summer, and the Ducks traded him to the Penguins in January of 2016.
From there, he became a crucial part of two consecutive Stanley Cup Championships for Pittsburgh. In addition to his speed giving him ample opportunities on the rush, he lived around the net front and scored many of his goals in that area:
But, perhaps what he was most known for was being one branch of the cult-famous “HBK Line,” which featured Hagelin, Nick Bonino, and Phil Kessel. They were a force for the Penguins in the 2016 playoffs, in which Hagelin recorded six goals and 16 points in 24 games.
The HBK Line combined for 20 goals and 56 points in 24 playoff games that season:
Hagelin scored a pretty important playoff goal for the Penguins in the 2017 playoffs as well. He used his speed to beat Nashville to the puck, create separation, and secure the empty-net goal against the Nashville Predators in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, clinching the Penguins’ back-to-back Cup runs:
Hagelin spent another season and a half in Pittsburgh, but when things started to go sour for the team in 2018-19, then-Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford controversially traded Hagelin, a locker room favorite, to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Tanner Pearson.
Allegedly, the move was made to shake up the room, but it did not have the effect that Rutherford intended. Instead of sparking the team, it seemed to simply anger everyone and was viewed as a “move just to make a move.” Neither Penguins’ players or Hagelin was happy about the trade.
After spending a few months with the Kings, he was traded to the Washington Capitals before the 2019 trade deadline, where he stayed for the remainder of his career until 2022, when he was forced to retire due to an eye injury he sustained while with the Capitals.
Throughout the course of his NHL career, Hagelin registered 110 goals and 296 points in 713 regular season games as well as 22 goals and 50 points in 141 playoff games.
