July 18 – Tom Kuhnhackl is a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He also scored 18 goals over his 5 year career where he played 4th line minutes for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.

Kuhnhackl made his NHL debut for the Penguins in 2015-16, playing in 42 games on the Penguins 4th line alongside guys like Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr. His 15 points in 42 games gave reason to be optimistic that he could be more, but quickly settled into that 4th line role in future seasons.

In his second year in Pittsburgh, Kuhnhackl was again a solid player bottom of the lineup player. Both seasons culminated in Stanley Cups and he was a key player for those teams.

In 2017-18, his production hit a wall. He played the most games in his career with 69, but also put up a career low in points to that point. He would sign with the Islanders following the season.

In two seasons with the Islanders as a fringe NHL forward, the trend of his previous season kept up and he would find himself out of the league by 2020.

A name that all Penguins fans will remember, Kuhnhackl was a solid grinder for a few years before falling into the career path that a lot of guys that don’t take that next step end up in. A Penguins legend forever though, his two cup wins see to that.

I love the scuffed AI images for these posts.