The Pittsburgh Penguins recently reacquired Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Who are other notable Penguins players who skated with the team more than once?
Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins reacquired Pierre-Olivier Joseph, a former defenseman who spent four years with the club before signing with the St. Louis Blues as a free agent in July 2024.
As Joseph regains his former sweater, No. 73, and swaps out his blue and yellow gear for black and gold, we thought it would be fun to look back at some notable players who had two stints with the Penguins.
John Cullen (1988-1991, 1994-1995)
John Cullen was an undrafted forward who joined the Penguins for the 1988-89 season. In his second season, he scored 32 goals with 92 points.
Surprisingly, after 94 points in 65 games, Pittsburgh traded him to the Hartford Whalers on Mar. 4, 1991, in the deal that brought Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson to town.
After playing with the Whalers and Toronto Maple Leafs, Cullen returned to the Penguins as a free agent in 1994. In the shortened season, he played 46 games and scored 14 goals and 30 points. He left the following summer to finish his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rob Brown (1987-1991, 1997-2000)
Rob Brown was a Penguins fourth-round pick who scored 49 goals and 115 points during his second season, 1988-89. Within a season of scoring 33 goals, the club traded him to the Whalers for Scott Young on Dec. 21, 1990.
Brown bounced around, with stops in Hartford, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles before returning to Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1997. In his final three seasons, he scored 38 goals and 87 points in 190 games.
At the time of his trade in 1990, Brown was only one of six players to record a 100-point season with the Penguins.
Martin Straka (1992-1995, 1999-2004)
Martin Straka was the 19th overall pick in the 1992 Draft, who debuted during the 1992-93 season, finding chemistry with Jaromir Jagr to become a 30-goal scorer at just 21. After 31 games, the Penguins traded him to the Ottawa Senators for Norm Maciver and Troy Murray.
Straka returned as a free agent in 1997, compiling arguably the best statistics of his career on his second tour. In 1998-99, he tallied a career-high 35 goals and netted a career-high 95 points two years later.
He only scored 30 goals twice in his career, both in Pittsburgh, while collecting three of his five 20-goal campaigns in black and gold.
Mark Recchi (1988-1992, 2005-06, 2007-2008)
Mark Recchi wore the skating Penguins logo on three occasions. Initially a fourth-round draft pick, he won his first Stanley Cup with the team in 1991, only to be dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers the next season in a deal involving Rick Tocchet.
Recchi continued building his Hall of Fame career with the Flyers, Canadiens, and Flyers again before returning to Pittsburgh for Sidney Crosby's rookie season.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ub5tO-B4gw[/embed]
After 57 points in 63 games, he moved to the Carolina Hurricanes for a second-round pick. Months later, Recchi would win his second Stanley Cup.
Interestingly, he returned to Pittsburgh one month into free agency for his third tour. However, the Atlanta Thrashers selected him off waivers in December. Recchi would retire with a third Stanley Cup win with the Boston Bruins in 2011.
In retirement, Recchi served in the Penguins organization from 2014 to 2020.
Kevin Steves (1987-1995, 2001-2002)
Kevin Stevens came to the Penguins from the Los Angeles Kings in 1983, months after being drafted in the sixth round. He may have had a slow start to his career, but in 1990-91, he became a 40-goal scorer and followed that season up with 54 and 55 goals.
His 123 points in 1991-92 are the third-highest total in team history by a player other than Mario Lemieux or Jagr.
Stevens was dealt to his hometown team, the Boston Bruins, in 1995 and took a turn with the Kings, Rangers, and Flyers before Philadelphia traded him back to Pittsburgh on Jan. 14, 2011.
In his final 64 NHL games, he scored just nine goals and 28 points but soon transitioned into a scouting role with the club in 2005. Even with a six-season break, Stevens remains a scout for the Penguins and a beloved alumni member.
Are there any other notable Penguins who played with the organization more than once that you liked? Let us know in the comments.
