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 Arizona Coyotes, who came into existence as the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972 before merging into the NHL in 1979. By 1996, the Jets moved to the desert and became the Phoenix Coyotes before adopting Arizona as their identifying location in 2014. For the purposes of this exercise, a player’s WHA service is not considered. Only NHLers. (Sorry, Bob Woytowich fans). In 82 all-time games against the Coyotes/Jets franchise, the Penguins have a 49-29-4 record.

1. Randy Carlyle, defenseman

Carlyle keeps pretty exclusive company in Penguins history as the franchise’s only winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy that recognizes the NHL’s top defenseman. Claiming the honor in 1980-81, Carlyle put up career-highs of 16 goals, 67 assists and 83 points.

Acquired in a trade during the 1978 offseason, Carlyle was a member of the Penguins for parts of six seasons, playing in two All-Star Games during that span. Late in the Penguins’ infamous 1983-84 campaign, which many suggest management blatantly tanked in order to draft Mario Lemieux, Carlyle was traded to the Jets for a first-round pick and another entrant on this list, defenseman Moe Mantha. With Winnipeg, Carlyle, one of the last NHLers to not wear a helmet, became a two-time All-Star, retiring as a member of the Jets in 1993.

2. Rick Tocchet, right winger

The prototypical power forward of the late 1980s and early ’90s who scored and fought, Tocchet was a wildly popular player just about anywhere he played. That’s why he became fan favorite almost immediately upon his arrival in Pittsburgh at the 1992 trade deadline. His legend grew as he helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup that season despite laboring with a broken jaw. In 1992-93, Tocchet was one of four 100-point scorers for the Penguins as he set career highs with 48 goals and 109 points in 80 games.

After an injury-filled 1993-94 campaign, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings during the ensuing offseason. Three years later, he joined the Coyotes as an unrestricted free agent. In three seasons with Phoenix, Tocchet reached the 20-goal mark twice and reached the playoffs on two occasions.

Even as he approached his mid-30s, Tocchet was no less ferocious.

3. Moe Mantha, Jr., defenseman

One of only 31 Ohio-born NHLers, Mantha began his career as a second-round pick of the Jets in 1980 and established himself as a full-time NHLer by 1983-84 with 54 points (16 goals, 38 assists) in 72 games.

Late that season, Mantha was shipped to the Penguins as part of a transaction in exchange for Carlyle. Mantha’s greatest success came with the Penguins and Lemieux. A member of the Penguins for parts of four seasons, Mantha’s career season of 1985-86 saw him put up 67 points (15 goals, 52 assists) in 78 games.

Early in the 1987-88 season, Mantha was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in a multi-player transaction that brought All-Star defenseman Paul Coffey to Pittsburgh. After bouncing between the Oilers, Minnesota North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers, Mantha wound up back in Winnipeg via waivers in October 1989 and spent three more unremarkable seasons with the Jets before being traded back to the Flyers by February 1992.

4. Fredrik Olausson, defenseman

A fourth-round pick of the Jets in 1985, the Swedish-born Olausson was a staple of the Jets’ blue line from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s. While the likes of Carlyle or fellow defenseman Phil Housley put up dazzling offensive totals, Olausson played a safe, responsible game while offering a fair amount of production. All three players still share the franchise’s single-game record for points by a defenseman with five.

The Jets traded Olausson to the Edmonton Oilers in December of 1993. After a stint with the Mighty Ducks, he was traded to the Penguins in November 1996 and served as a sturdy top-four defenseman during Lemieux’s “farewell” season of 1996-97.

Under new defensive-minded coach Kevin Constantine, Olausson posted a solid 33 points (six goals, 27 assists) in 76 games during the 1997-98 campaign. He returned to Anaheim as an unrestricted free agent in August 1998.

5. Alex Goligoski, defenseman

A second-round pick in 2004, Goligoski arrived at the NHL just at the right time.

By the time he made his NHL debut with the Penguins in 2007-08, the NHL was in the midst of shifting away from using bigger, slower defensemen at the bottom of the depth chart to deploying as many slick-skating blue liners as possible. At 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, the fleet Goligoski fit the modern NHL perfectly.

Primarily used on the second or third pairing with the Penguins because of the presence of all-star defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang, Goligoski produced at a fairly consistent clip despite seeing limited ice time. A member of the 2009 Stanley Cup team in a reserve role, he broke through as a full-time NHLer in 2009-10, appearing in 69 games and putting up 37 points.

At the 2011 trade deadline, management dealt Goligoski to the Dallas Stars to boost the forward depth and acquired left winger James Neal. After spending six seasons in Texas, Goligoski was traded again, this time to Arizona, during the 2016 offseason.

A model of consistency with the Coyotes, he has averaged a respectable 31 points over each of the past three seasons while primarily serving on a second pairing.

Honorable mentions: Randy Gilhen, center; Phil Kessel, right winger; Willie Lindstrom, right winger; Zbynek Michalek, defenseman; Mike Stapleton, center.

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