No matter the victor, there will be a former member of the Pittsburgh Penguins hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2023.

After eight months of hockey, including almost two without the Pittsburgh Penguins, the eyes of the hockey world are turning to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights have three former Penguins between them, but they take on different roles than fans may be used to.

Florida Panthers

Patric Hornqvist

Despite not playing a game since December, Patric Hornqvist has been by the Panthers’ side every step of the way.

After a couple of concussions took him out of the lineup for the season, and possibly his career, Hornqvist has turned into an off-ice leader for the Panthers.

Almost acting as another coach, Hornqvist has helped prepare the Panthers in the locker room and during workouts during practices.

According to Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers have been utilizing Hornqvist as a final test for injured players.

Before someone can return they have to make it through a skating session with the two-time Cup Champion.

Hornqvist and goalie Sergei Bobrovski have gotten into their own routine of taking a few minutes before practices so the forward can take a few shots on the Conn Smyth favorite.

The Panthers have shocked a lot of people with their run to the Cup final; they’ve done it without Hornqvist on the ice, but he’s arguably one of the most important members of the team.

Vegas Golden Knights

Phil Kessel, Teddy Blueger

The Golden Knights have such a deep roster that both Phil Kessel and Teddy Blueger are being healthy scratched from the lineup.

Not that they’re bad players, Vegas just has so much fire power that Kessel and Blueger drift down the depth chart.

Kessel entered the 2023 Playoffs as the NHL’s all-time iron man; while his streak of 1,064 consecutive games will remain in tact, he hasn’t played since Game 4 of the opening round.

With just a pair of assists in four games this postseason, Kessel doesn’t fill the same role he did when he helped lead the Penguins to back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017.

It might be strange for Penguins’ fans to hear, but the Golden Knights have one of the best fourth lines in hockey and it doesn’t feature Blueger.

When he was with the Penguins, Blueger found his game as one of the best defensive forwards in the league.

Blueger is a useful piece in many different aspects of the game, but the Golden Knights just don’t have a use for him at this stage of the playoffs.

They’ve gotten great work from the likes of Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar on their fourth line.

No matter what way you cut it, there will be at least one former Penguin ending their season as champion.

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