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 #3 in Penguins’ history.
This one was tough. A total of 24 players have worn #3 for the Penguins, one of them being Hall of Fame defenseman Sergei Zubov. Zubov played one season for the Penguins in 1995-96, when he put up the second-highest totals of his career – 11 goals and 66 points in 64 games. Thus, it was difficult not to choose him by default, as he was, arguably, the best player overall out of all the names.
However, we decided to go in a different direction. We rolled with another Pens great due to his contributions to the franchise during his nine seasons in a Penguins’ uniform. That player would be defenseman Ron Stackhouse.
© Pittsburgh Penguins – National Hockey League
Stackhouse was drafted 18th overall in the second round of the 1969 NHL Entry Draft by the now-defunct Oakland Seals – the only 1967 expansion-era team that failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Finals. After spending parts of two seasons with the California Golden Seals (renamed) and parts of three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, he was traded to Pittsburgh in 1974, where he spent the remainder of his career until his retirement in 1982.
The big, lanky, 6-foot-3, 210-pound defenseman registered 87 goals and 459 points in 889 career games, with his two best seasons coming in Pittsburgh in 1974-75 and 1975-76, when he scored 15 goals and 60 points and 11 goals and 71 points, respectively.
He is known for tying and NHL record for six assists by a defenseman in one game on March 8, 1975. He held the franchise record on his own until December 27, 2023, when current Penguins defenseman Kris Letang tied Stackhouse’s record.
Honorable mentions: Sergei Zubov, Doug Bodger, Olli Maatta
Related: Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #2
Related: Best Penguins by Jersey Number: #1
Related: Throwback Thursday: Revisiting the Career of Penguins’ All-Time Great Defenseman