Double Team: Champion with Islanders, Bryan Trottier taught Penguins how to win

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer the Double Team project, an examination of the five best players who have contributed substantially to the Penguins and another franchise. For consideration, a player must have played at least the equivalent of a full season for each franchise. (Sorry, Jarome Iginla fans.)

Today, a look at the New York Islanders. Founded in 1972, the Islanders, named for Long Island, have largely existed in Uniondale, N.Y. throughout their history.

In 255 all-time games against the Islanders, the Penguins have a 122-100-33 record.

1. Bryan Trottier, center

For nearly the entire history of the sport, hockey has had dynamic playmaker/shooter combinations, from Joe Malone and Newsy Lalonde to Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin.

A case could be made the best such duo of all-time was composed of Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy of the Islanders from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Bossy was arguably the NHL’s best sniper of that era, and it was Trottier who fed him the puck more often than not.

A second-round pick in 1974, Trottier wasted little time establishing himself in the NHL, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 1975-76 with 95 points in 80 games and earning the first of his eight selections to the All-Star Game. Two seasons later, playing with a rookie Bossy, Trottier reached the 100-point barrier by putting up a team-leading 123 points, including a league-best 77 assists, in 77 games.

The 1978-79 campaign proved to be the signature season of Trottier’s career thanks to his 134 points in 76 games, Trottier became the first — and still only — Islanders player to claim the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer and the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP.

The following season, the Islanders won the first of their four consecutive Stanley Cup titles thanks largely to Trottier. After putting up 104 points in 78 games during the regular season, Trottier led the playoffs with 29 points in 21 games and claimed the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP.

By 1989-90, his production had dropped to a mere 24 points in 59 games, prompting Islanders management to buy out the final two years of their all-time leading scorer’s (1,123 points) contract at age 34.

Seeking a veteran influence for his mostly younger roster, Penguins general manager Craig Patrick signed Trottier in July 1990.

While the likes of forwards Mark Recchi and Kevin Stevens did the heavy lifting in terms of the offense as franchise center Mario Lemieux recovered from a back injury, Trottier worked as a bottom-six center with the Penguins and largely served as a respected leader for a team of mostly 20-somethings. Contributing seven points in 23 postseason games, Trottier lifted the Stanley Cup for the fifth time that spring then did it for a sixth time when the Penguins claimed their second title in 1992.

Trottier briefly retired before returning to the Penguins in 1993-94. After that, he retired for good. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, Trottier is the NHL’s 17th leading scorer of all-time with 1,425 points.

2. Darius Kasparaitis, defenseman

For virtually all Penguins fans, Kasparaitis was introduced as a menace. But today, he’s something of a folk hero.

The fifth overall pick in the 1992 draft, Kasparaitis, the first Lithuanian in NHL history, debuted as a 20-year-old in 1992-93 with the Islanders. Despite his high draft status, offense was not his forte. Being a pain in the you-know-what was. As a rookie, he dressed for 79 games and put up 21 points as well as a team-leading 166 penalty minutes.

That spring, he helped the Islanders pull off one of the biggest upsets in NHL history by beating the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Penguins, 4-3, in the Patrick Division final series. Kasparaitis’ main contribution to that triumph involved him vexing Lemieux throughout the series.

After that initial success, Kasparaitis lasted parts of four additional seasons with the Islanders which were pockmarked with injuries and a leave of absence to attend to his sick father. By November 1996, he was traded to the Penguins. Once a public enemy in Pittsburgh, Kasparaitis quickly became beloved by the locals.

He secured his legacy as a fan favorite in Pittsburgh by March 7, 1998, during a 6-4-home win against the rival Philadelphia Flyers, when he rocked forward Eric Lindros with a thundering check.

Having reached the 100-penalty minute barrier four times during his six seasons with the Penguins, Kasparaitis was never renowned for his offense but he holds a place in franchise history as the first player to score an overtime postseason goal in a Game 7. His wrister against star goaltender Dominik Hasek gave the Penguins a 3-2 road win against the Buffalo Sabres in an Eastern Conference semifinal series, May 10, 2001.

Less than a year later, the Penguins were in the midst of a rebuilding project and Kasparaitis was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in March 2002.

3. Bill Guerin, right winger

By the time Guerin joined the Islanders as a free agent signing in July 2007, he was 37 and on the back nine of his career. An All-Star at one time, Guerin primarily contributed more through guile than any other attribute by this stage of his NHL existence.

Regardless, the Islanders installed him as their captain almost as soon as he signed and he rewarded them with a team-leading 23 goals as well as 44 points in 81 games for a last-place squad in 2007-08.

Guerin was having another solid season in 2008-09 with 16 goals and 36 points through 61 games but the Islanders were once again going nowhere. So they dealt him to the Penguins, who were looking to provide franchise center Sidney Crosby with a winger. Guerin found a fit right away, recording 12 points in 17 regular season games following the transaction.

That postseason, Guerin was third on the team in scoring with 15 points in 24 games and played a key role in helping the franchise claim its third Stanley Cup title.

After a 21-goal, 45-point effort in 78 games during 2009-10 with the Penguins, Guerin retired.

4. Bryan Smolinski, center

The NHL’s career leader in points (651) among Ohio-born players, Smolinski joined the Penguins via a blockbuster trade in August 1995. In an effort to make the Penguins faster and younger (i.e. cheaper), Patrick dealt forwards Shawn McEachern and Kevin Stevens to the Bruins for Smolinski and fellow forward Glen Murray.

A first-round pick of the Bruins in 1990, the skilled Smolinski meshed well with the aggressive Penguins in 1995-96. Playing a secondary role to the likes of Lemieux as well as forwards Ron Francis and Jaromir Jagr, Smolinski set career highs for assists (40) and points (64) that season while helping the Penguins reach the Eastern Conference final.

Any hopes he would have a lasting impact on the Penguins weren’t to be. A contract dispute led to him holding out for the start of the 1996-97 season before being traded to the Islanders for Kasparaitis as well as forward Andreas Johansson.

Signing with the Islanders, Smolinski spent three solid but hardly spectacular seasons on Long Island, never reaching the playoffs.

His best season with the Islanders was his first, posting 28 goals and 56 points in 64 games. After that, he reached the 40-point barrier twice before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in June of 1999.

5. Andre St. Laurent, center

A fourth-round pick in 1973, St. Laurent established himself in the NHL with the Islanders during the mid-1970s as a steady defensive center primarily playing on the “Commotion Line” with Garry Howatt and Bob Nystrom.

St. Laurent’s high-water mark with New York was a 41-point effort in 78 games during his second season of 1974-75. During that postseason, he helped the Islanders stage a stunning comeback from a 3-0 series deficit to defeat the Penguins in seven games during the quarterfinal round. In all, the Islanders reached the semifinal round (the equivalent of today’s conference final) three consecutive postseasons during St. Laurent’s time in New York.

By October 1977, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings. After bouncing between the Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings, St. Laurent was claimed off waivers by the Penguins in February 1982.

Strong in the faceoff circle, he found a role as a bottom-six forward in Pittsburgh, appearing in 18 games and scoring 13 points after joining the Penguins in 1981-82. During the preliminary round of that spring’s playoffs, St. Laurent shadowed Trottier and limited him as the Penguins nearly upset the powerful Islanders in the best-of-five series.

The 1982-83 campaign was St. Laurent’s only full season with the Penguins. He appeared in 70 games and put up 13 goals and 22 points for a team that missed the playoffs.

After eight games in 1983-84, he was traded back to the Red Wings.

Honorable mention: Arron Asham, right winger; Eric Godard, right winger; Richard Park, right winger; Pat Price, defenseman; Miroslav Satan, right winger.

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