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 Detroit Red Wings. The franchise was originally a Western Hockey League franchise known as the Victoria (B.C.) Cougars. Moving to Detroit to join the NHL in 1926, the Detroit Cougars became the Falcons in 1930. By 1932, they adopted their current name. In 160 all-time games against the Red Wings, the Penguins have a 74-67-16 record.

1. Larry Murphy, defenseman

Penguins general manager Craig Patrick made significant changes to his forward ranks during the 1990 offseason with the additions of veterans Joe Mullen, Bryan Trottier and the drafting of prospect Jaromir Jagr. But his blue line was a work in progress throughout the 1990-91 season.

He made a series of trades throughout the season to reconfigure the back end, the biggest of which involved acquiring Murphy and Peter Taglianetti from the Minnesota North Stars for Chris Dahlquist and Jim Johnson on Dec. 11.

Patrick coveted Murphy, the No. 4 overall pick of the 1980 draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He had plenty of skill and could get the puck up ice to the deep pool of talented forwards Patrick had amassed.

In 44 regular-season games after the trade, Murphy put up 28 points. But it was in the postseason where he showed his true value. While top defenseman Paul Coffey missed nearly half of the playoffs due to eye and jaw injuries, Murphy stepped up by recording 23 points in 23 games, still a single-postseason mark for the franchise among defensemen and helped the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup title.

In 1991-92, Coffey requested a trade and it was granted, thanks to the presence of Murphy who put up 77 points in 77 games that season then lifted the Stanley Cup once again that spring.

Murphy’s signature season of 1992-93 saw him post a career-best of 85 points in 83 games on a team which produced four 100-point scorers in forwards Mario Lemieux (160), Kevin Stevens (111), Rick Tocchet (109) as well as Ron Francis (100) and claimed the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best squad in the regular season. But Murphy and the Penguins failed to win the Stanley Cup that season as well as the next two seasons.

During the 1995 offseason, Patrick, under some financial constraints, dealt away several members of the Stanley Cup championship teams, including Murphy who went to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Murphy’s stay in Toronto was brief and he was traded to the Red Wings at the 1997 trade deadline. Joining an already stacked lineup, Murphy was teamed with No. 1 defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, put up 11 points in 20 postseason games and helped the Red Wings sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Final, for their first championship in 42 years. A year later, Murphy and the Red Wings were once again Stanley Cup champions.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004, Murphy retired with the Red Wings in 2001 having played 1,615 career games, second-most in NHL history among defensemen.

2. Paul Coffey, defenseman

When discussing Coffey’s marvelous career, his tenures with the Edmonton Oilers as well as the Penguins often stand out. And why not? He won the Stanley Cup with each franchise while putting up gaudy offensive totals playing with the likes of Wayne Gretzky or Lemieux.

His time as a member of the Red Wings isn’t nearly as celebrated, but he was definitely a significant player in Detroit. Acquired from the Kings in a trade midway through 1992-93, Coffey joined a deep roster which included All-Star forwards Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman, fitting right in as he recorded 30 points in 30 games while representing the team in the All-Star Game.

The next season, Coffey was selected for another All-Star Game, scoring 77 points in 80 games, then a single-season record for the franchise among defensemen.

During the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, Coffey became Red Wings’ second winner of the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL, when he racked up 58 points in 44 games, finishing sixth in the league’s scoring race. The Red Wings, winner of the Presidents’ Trophy reached the Stanley Cup Final but were swept by the New Jersey Devils.

Coffey lasted one more season in Detroit and recorded 74 points in 76 games as the Red Wings won the Presidents’ Trophy once again but lost to the newly relocated Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final. Before the start of the 1996-97 campaign, Coffey was traded to the Hartford Whalers.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.

3. Val Fonteyne, left winger

Fonteyne was one of the NHL’s best penalty killers throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. And that’s fitting because he was one of the least penalized players in NHL history.

Debuting with the Red Wings in 1959-60, Fonteyne never recorded more than six penalty minutes in a season despite regularly playing more than 60 games per season throughout his 13-year career. In 823 career games, Fonteyne had 26 penalty minutes, including a 185-game streak without an infraction, believed to be an NHL record.

A speedy skater who rarely put up significant offensive totals, Fonteyne was a staple in the Red Wings lineup for four seasons — when there were only six NHL teams and limited roster spots — before being claimed by the New York Rangers in the 1963 intra-league draft. He would rejoin the Red Wings in February 1965 via waivers, spending three more seasons in Detroit. Fonteyne helped the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1961, ‘63 and ‘66.

The Penguins claimed Fonteyne, previously a member of Detroit’s AHL affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets, in the 1967 expansion draft and he enjoyed his greatest individual success in Pittsburgh over five seasons. During the Penguins’ inaugural campaign of 1967-68, he established a career-high with 34 points in 69 games (and no penalty minutes).

Fonteyne helped the Penguins reach their first two playoff appearances, in 1970 and ‘72, before joining the newly formed Alberta Oilers of the World Hockey Association in the 1972 offseason.

4. Bryan Watson, defenseman

“Bugsy” didn’t last in the NHL for 16 years through his skill. He only had 155 points in 877 career games. And it wasn’t due to his size. He was a compact 5-foot-9 and 177 pounds.

But he was very combative, earning plenty of stitches and black eyes by being an agitator. In 877 games, he racked up 2,214 penalty minutes.

Initially joining the Red Wings in the 1965 intra-league draft, Watson broke through as a full-time NHLer in 1965-66. He appeared in 70 games and put up a team-leading 133 penalty minutes while helping the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup Final.

By 1967, Watson was selected by the North Stars in the expansion draft then bounced between the Montreal Canadiens and Oakland Seals before landing in Pittsburgh via trade midway through the 1968-69 season.

Watson’s bellicosity made him an instant favorite in Pittsburgh. Over parts of six seasons, he totaled 871 penalty minutes — fifth in franchise history — in only 302 games. In 1971-72, he led the NHL with 212 penalty minutes, playing in 75 games. He was the Penguins’ leader in penalty minutes in three of the four complete seasons he spent with the franchise.

In January 1974, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues then dealt back to the Red Wings a month later. Even in his 30s by this point, Watson still played a punishing style. After recording 238 penalty minutes in 1974-75, he established a franchise record — since broken — of 322 penalty minutes one season later.

Before being traded to the Washington Capitals by November 1976, Watson spent 303 games in Detroit and recorded 897 penalty minutes.

5. Dean Prentice, left winger

Prentice thrived in the NHL throughout the 1950s and 1960s, primarily with the Rangers and Boston Bruins, when the NHL was limited to six teams. Toward the end of the so-called “original six” era, he joined the Red Wings through trade in February 1966. That postseason, playing on Detroit’s top line with greats Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe, he put up 10 points in 12 games and helped the Red Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, losing in six games to the Canadiens.

After putting up 23 goals and 45 points in 68 games in 1966-67, Prentice’s production tailed off over his next two seasons in Detroit before he was claimed by the Penguins during the 1969 intra-league draft. With the Penguins, Prentice enjoyed a late-career renaissance.

During 1969-70, he led the team with 51 points — including a then franchise-record 26 goals — in 75 games and was selected to the All-Star Game, becoming the first Penguins player to score a goal in that contest. He also helped the franchise reach the postseason for the first time that spring.

In 1970-71, Prentice scored 21 goals and 38 points in 69 games. By October 1971, he was traded to the North Stars.

Honorable mentions: Bob Errey, left winger; Robert Lang, center; Luc Robitaille, left winger Jim Rutherford, goaltender; Ron Stackhouse, defenseman.

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