Pittsburgh Penguins History: Revisiting the 1993 Draft Class

A look back at the players the Pittsburgh Penguins took in the 1993 Draft.

This is the first post in our new series “Pens Draft Class Rehash” where we will be profiling the Pittsburgh Penguins draft choices by draft year.

We will be looking at the player’s time with Pittsburgh and try to dig up interesting facts and stats on the picks and recount interesting events that they may have been a part of.

Here is our rehash of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1993 Draft Class.

Stefan Bergkvist

Bergkvist was selected by the Penguins with the 26th and final pick in the first round of the draft.

Bergkvist spent the majority of his time within the Penguins organization with their affiliate team, the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL.

In 165 games played (GP) with Cleveland, Bergkvist scored five goals and 20 points from 1995-98.

Bergkvist made his NHL debut on Feb. 16, 1996, in Pittsburgh’s 1-0 victory over Winnipeg and would play a total of seven games with the team from 1996-97, putting four shots on net and earning nine penalty-minuets (PIM)

Domenic Pittis

The Penguins selected Pittis with the 52nd pick (last pick of the second round) from the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL.

Pittis made his NHL debut on Oct. 26, 1996, vs. Vancouver, and it proved to be his only game with Pittsburgh.

Pittis played 136 games with Cleveland and scored 28 goals and 88 points, prior to signing with Buffalo on Aug. 10, 1998.

Dave Roche

Pittsburgh took Roche with the 62nd pick in the draft and he made his NHL debut on Oct. 7, 1995, in the Penguins 4-2 win over Toronto.

Roche scored his first NHL goal on Nov. 14, 1995, against Dallas, with a big assist from Mario Lemieux. Roche’s first multiple-point game was in Pittsburgh’s 7-4 victory over Vancouver.

Altogether Roche appeared 132 regular-season games from 1995-97 with Pittsburgh and scored 12 goals and 24 points. Roche made appearances in 16 games during the 1996 playoffs where he scored two goals and nine points.

On Jun. 17, 1998, Roche was traded to Calgary with Ken Wregget for German Titov and Todd Hlushko.

More from History

Patrick Lalime

Lalime was selected with the 156th pick overall and represented the player with the most longevity of all the players the Penguins drafted in 1993, as his career spanned 12 years and 444 games.

Lalime’s first taste of NHL action occurred on Nov. 16, 1996, in the Penguins 8-3 loss vs. the Rangers. Although Lalime allowed three goals on 14 shots, it was Wregget who took the loss.

Lalime went on to set a league record by going 14-0-2 in his first 16 starts with the Penguins, in a stretch of games that lasted from Dec. 6, 1996 to Jan. 21, 1997.

Overall, Lalime appeared in 39 games during the 1996-97 season and earned a record of 21-12-2, with 3 SO’s and a GAA of 3.15.

Hans Jonsson

Jonsson was the deepest player the Penguins selected in the 1993 draft, as he was taken 156th overall in the 11th round.

It took Jonsson nearly six years to crack the lineup and he made his NHL debut on Oct. 14, 1999, in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 win over the Rangers. Jonsson took four shifts and played 4 minutes and 43 seconds.

Jonsson collected his first career goal in his 25th games on Dec. 30, 1999, in Pittsburgh’s 9-3 win over the Islanders.

All in all, Jonsson appeared in 242 regular-season games with Pittsburgh from 1999-2003 and scored 10 goals and 48 points with one game-winning goal.

In the playoffs, Jonsson played 27 games from 1999-2001 and earned one assist and 14 penalty minutes.

Here are a few other players selected in the draft that would spend time with the Pittsburgh Penguins over the course of their careers: Alexandre Daigle, Jocelyn Thibault, Landon Wilson, Krzysztof Oliwa, Shean Donovan, Maxim Glanov, and Miroslav Satan.

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