Double Team: Tyler Wright rarely felt wrong for Penguins, Blue Jackets

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 Columbus Blue Jackets. Entering the NHL as an expansion franchise in 2000, the Blue Jackets were named in recognition of Ohio’s contributions to the Union during the Civil War. In 42 all-time games against the Blue Jackets, the Penguins have a 28-10-4 record.

1. Tyler Wright, center

As a first-round pick (No. 12 overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in 1991, Wright failed to meet the immense expectations foisted upon him in that hockey-mad market and appeared in only 41 games over four seasons with that franchise.

During the 1996 offseason, he was traded to Pittsburgh and bounced between the Penguins and their International Hockey League affiliate, the Cleveland Lumberjacks, throughout the 1996-97 campaign. Following the retirement of Mario Lemieux in 1997 and the hiring of defensive-minded coach Kevin Constantine, Wright reconfigured his game to become a defensively responsible bottom-six forward and broke through as a full-time NHLer. In 1997-98, Wright played in all 82 games and recorded seven points while helping the team win the Northeast Division title.

Wright achieved something of a remarkable feat — but hardly in a positive sense — when he appeared in 61 games and did not record a single point. To date, that remains the record for most games without a point during a single season. (Los Angeles Kings forward Raitis Ivanans tied the mark in 2009-10.) In the postseason, Wright kept his non-scoring streak alive by failing to record any offense in 13 contests.

Wright started 1999-2000 as the first captain of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton franchise, but was called up by Christmas and began to find the back of the net as he contributed 12 goals and 22 points for the Penguins, who returned to the postseason once again.

That modest success prompted the Blue Jackets to select Wright in the 2000 expansion draft. With Columbus, Wright enjoyed his greatest individual success. In the franchise’s inaugural season of 2000-01, Wright, who served as an alternate captain, appeared in 76 games and established career-highs in goals (16) as well as points (32).

In 309 games with the Blue Jackets, Wright contributed 109 points — including the first natural hat trick in franchise history during a 3-0 road win against the Atlanta Thrashers, March 16, 2001.

Early in the 2005-06 season, he was dealt to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

2. Mark Letestu, center

Letestu took a hard route to the NHL. Undrafted, he spent a season at Western Michigan before signing with the Penguins in 2007. After bouncing between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers for parts of three seasons, Letestu enjoyed a 10-game cup of coffee at the NHL level in 2009-10.

He opened the 2010-11 season in the NHL for the first time and never looked back. Thanks to serious injuries for franchise centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Letestu essentially served as the team’s No. 1 center toward the end of the season with Alex Kovalev and James Neal on his wings. In 64 games that season, he scored 27 points.

By November of 2011, the Penguins, dealing with a glut of forwards, dealt Letestu to the Blue Jackets. In Columbus, Letestu developed into a useful and versatile player who was deployed in seemingly every situation on the ice. After posting 24 points in 51 games in 2011-12, Letestu emerged as the team’s leading goal scorer with 13 goals in 46 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign.

In 2013-14, Letestu, an alternate captain by this time, appeared in all 82 games and contributed 34 points while helping the franchise reach the postseason for the second time.

Injuries limited Letestu to 54 games during the 2014-15 season and he left, signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Edmonton Oilers during the 2015 offseason. By February of 2018, he returned to Columbus via trade and once again helped the Blue Jackets return to the postseason.

After playing in only two games during the 2018-19 campaign, he joined the Winnipeg Jets as a free agent.

3. Jack Johnson, defenseman

Once upon a time, Jack Johnson was actually liked by a fan base. Prior to the 2012 trade deadline, after a botched marriage between the Blue Jackets and forward Jeff Carter turned particularly sour, Columbus dealt him to the Los Angeles Kings and got back a No. 1 defenseman in Johnson.

Over the course of seven years, Johnson routinely led the Blue Jackets in ice time, including four consecutive seasons from 2012-16. Serving as an alternate captain throughout his tenure with the Blue Jackets, he played a pivotal role in the franchise reaching the 2014 postseason and even led the club with seven points in six playoff games that spring.

Appearing in 445 regular season games for the Blue Jackets, 10th-most in franchise history, Johnson’s time with Columbus came to an inglorious ending as he was a healthy scratch throughout their 2018 postseason.

During the ensuing offseason, Johnson was signed to a hefty five-year contract worth a total of $16.25 million. While Johnson has been roundly scrutinized since joining the Penguins, he’s clearly earned the trust of coaches as he’s played in 149 of a possible 151 regular season games over the past two seasons.

4. Jan Hrdina, center

A native of the Czech Republic, Hrdina was a fifth-round pick of the Penguins in 1995 and reached the NHL by 1998.

Something of a rarity in that he was a homegrown talent during a time when the Penguins didn’t draft or develop many of their own players, Hrdina debuted in 1998-99 by appearing in all 82 games and putting up 42 points. That performance merited him a seventh-place finish in voting on the Calder Memorial Trophy, which recognizes the league’s top rookie.

Over the next four seasons, Hrdina developed into a defensively responsible center who could consistently put up solid offensive totals. And as one of the top faceoff specialists in the NHL, Hrdina was a favorite linemate of fellow Czech forward Jaromir Jagr. During Mario Lemieux’s comeback season of 2000-01, Hrdina was given the incredible assignment of centering Jagr and Lemieux.

Following Jagr’s departure via trade in the 2001 offseason, Hrdina seemingly thrived as he established career highs with 24 goals and 57 points in 79 games during 2001-02. But at the 2003 trade deadline, with the Penguins embarking on a rebuilding project, Hrdina was dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes

Following the 2004-05 lockout, Hrdina signed with the Blue Jackets as a free agent and spent the 2005-06 season in Columbus, putting up 33 points in 75 games. By 2006, he continued his career in Finland.

5. Jamie Pushor, defenseman

Pushor was very much a product of the era he played in. A second-round draft pick of the Red Wings in 1991, Pushor was a big (6-foot-3, 218 pounds) defenseman who could clutch and grab talented players when the rules permitted that type of play. And he carved out a solid 10-year career playing that style, even earning a Stanley Cup ring with the Red Wings in 1997.

The Blue Jackets claimed Pushor from the Dallas Stars in the 2000 expansion draft and he set a career high with 13 points in 75 games during the franchise’s inaugural season. He even claimed a piece of history by recording the Blue Jackets’ first fighting major during their first game that season, a tilt with Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan VandenBussche during a 5-3 home loss on Oct. 7, 2001.

Late in the 2001-02 season, Pushor was traded to the Penguins. In parts of two unremarkable seasons with Pittsburgh, Pushor appeared in 90 games and recorded six points as well as a robust 106 penalty minutes. His most notable moment with the Penguins came during a brawl-filled 6-0 home loss to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 6, 2003. After Pushor pinned Panthers forward Eric Beaudoin to the ice, he shoved Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo to the ice in a hilarious fashion.

Pushor returned to Columbus as an unrestricted free agent midway through the 2003-04 season and appeared in seven games before being traded to the New York Rangers. In the 2006 offseason, he signed with the Blue Jackets once again but only lasted six games during 2006-07 before retiring in 2007.

Honorable mention: None. There were so few players who spent the equivalent of a full season with each team, there are no players worthy of this designation.

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