Best Penguins By Jersey Number: #93

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 #93 in Penguins’ history.

Only one player in Penguins’ history has worn #93, and, even though he was only in Pittsburgh for two seasons, they were two of the best seasons of his NHL career.

The best and only #93 in Penguins history is Petr Nedved.

Nedved was drafted second overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1990 NHL Draft. The Czech forward was known from the jump for his size, stickhandling, and wrist shot. He broke out in the 1992-93 season with the Canucks, registering 38 goals and 71 points in 84 games.

However, a contract dispute with Vancouver led him to sit out most of the season and eventually get traded to the St. Louis Blues, where he played just 19 games. He spent one season with the New York Rangers and then was involved in a blockbuster trade to come to Pittsburgh for the 1995-96 season – where he had two of the best seasons of his career playing with some of the best players in hockey.

In his first season with the Penguins, he set career highs in goals with 45 and points with 99. But that’s not what was most memorable from that season.

Nedved scored one of the biggest playoff goals in franchise history, netting the game-winning goal in quadruple-overtime against the Washington Capitals in Game 4 of their 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. That goal tied the series at 2-2 for the Penguins, and they went on to win the next two games and take the series.

He enjoyed another successful season with the Penguins the following year, recording 33 goals and 71 points in 74 games. However, another contract dispute caused Nedved to sit out the entire 1997-98 NHL season, and he ended up receiving a contract with the Rangers for the 1998-99 season that netted him less money than he would have made with the Penguins, and his league reputation was tarnished.

Nedved spent parts of five good seasons with the Rangers before getting traded to the Edmonton Oilers during the 2003-04 season. Following the lockout, he spending parts of the next two seasons – the final two of his NHL career – with the Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, and Oilers.

Over the course of his 15-year NHL career, Nedved registered 310 goals and 717 points in 982 games.