by The Pittsburgh Penguins’ organizational history is filled with great players, and we decided to pick the best Penguins players to wear each jersey number. Today we continue the list by naming the best No. 76 pick in Penguins history.
Only two players in franchise history have worn number 76, and forward Valtteri Puustinen only wore the number for one game in the 2021-22 season. So that leaves one left, and he didn’t wear that number for his entire tenure with the Penguins – but the sample size was a little larger, and he ended up having a pretty good NHL career.
The best No. 76 in Penguins history is Richard Park.
© Dennis Wierzbicki – Imagn Images
Park actually had two seasons with the Penguins and – ironically – he began and ended his NHL career in Pittsburgh.
He was selected 50th overall by the Penguins in the second round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft and was only the second Korean-born player to take part in an NHL game, alongside Jim Paek, who was also drafted by Pittsburgh. He made his debut in the 1994/95 season when he only played in one game and provided one assist. Park played most of the 1995–96 season, scoring four goals and ten points in 56 games on the fourth line.
His next few seasons included stints between the AHL and NHL – as well as new homes with new teams. He had his best seasons with the Minnesota Wild, the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders, where he scored a total of 90 goals and 212 points in 593 games.
After his 2009-10 season with the Islanders, Park spent one season in the Swiss League and then returned to Pittsburgh for his second stint in 2011-12. He scored seven goals and 14 points in 54 games – and that was the final season of his NHL career.
Over the course of his 14-year NHL career, Park scored 102 goals and 241 points in 738 games.
