Pittsburgh Penguins History: Revisiting the 1982 Draft Class

A look back at the players the Pittsburgh Penguins took in the 1982 Draft.

This is the next installment in our series “Pens Draft Class Rehash” where we profile the Pittsburgh Penguins draft choices by draft year that made the NHL.

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 1982 Draft Class.

First the specifics of the picks.

The Penguins took 10 players in the draft, seven forwards, two defensemen, and one goalie with four of 10 players selected (40 percent) playing for the Penguins.

Grant Sasser

The Penguins selected Sasser with the 94th pick in the draft, and he would become the first native of Oregon to play in the NHL.

Sasser made his NHL debut on Feb. 16, 1984, and played three games on a Canadian West Coast road trip, and it would prove to be the only action he would see in the NHL.

Troy Loney

Pittsburgh took Loney with the 52nd pick and he would spend 10 years as a Penguin and collect Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992.

Loney made his NHL debut on Dec. 10, 1983, and would score his first goal on Nov. 29, 1984.

In 10-years and 532 games with Pittsburgh, Loney scored 69 goals and 169 points.

On Jun. 24, 1993, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim selected Loney from the Penguins in the NHL’s expansion draft and named him the first captain in team history.

Tim Hryenwich

The Penguins selected Hryenwich with the 38th pick overall, and he played 30 games in his rookie campaign with Pittsburgh in 1982-83.

Hyenwich made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 1982, and scored his first career goal and multi-point game on Oct. 16, 1982.

All-in-all Hryenwich, scored six goals and eight points in 55 GP, over two seasons with the Penguins.

Rich Sutter

Rich Sutter was selected 10th overall by the Penguins and comes from one of the most well-known families in hockey history, as the six Sutter brothers made the NHL in the 1970s and 1980s.

Sutter made his NHL debut on Jan. 1, 1983, and would play nine games with Penguins before a trade sent him cross-state. On Oct. 23, 1983, Sutter was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in a deal involving picks and players.

Sutter finished his time with the Penguins scoring zero points in nine games.

Here is a list of players selected at the 1982 draft that would eventually find themselves a member of the Penguins at some point in their careers: Jim Kyte (12th), Tomas Sandstrom (36th), Ken Wregget (45th), Ulf Samuelsson (67th), Randy Gilhen (109th).