The Penguins made it official: Marc-Andre Fleury and Larry Murphy are going in as players, while Jim Rutherford and Jack McGregor get the builder and contributor nods, respectively. It's a class that spans the entire arc of the franchise, from the guy who literally brought the team to Pittsburgh in the 1960s to the goalie who backstopped 3 of their 5 Stanley Cups.
Fleury is the headliner for obvious reasons. He's the first player of the post-lockout era to make the Penguins Hall of Fame, and he got in unanimously in his first year of eligibility. Over 13 seasons in Pittsburgh he won 375 regular-season games, threw up 44 shutouts, and backstopped championships in 2009, 2016 and 2017. That's a resume that doesn't need much embellishment.
Murphy's induction is a reminder of how deep the roster was on those early-90s title teams. He played 410 of a possible 421 games as a Penguin, won back-to-back Cups in 1991 and 1992, and posted a plus-102 rating that still leads every defenseman in franchise history. His 13 points across those two Finals runs trailed only Mario Lemieux at the time.
Rutherford's case is just as straightforward: he ran the front office from 2014 to 2021 and built the back-to-back champions of 2016 and '17 — a feat no NHL team had pulled off since 1992. He picked up trades that turned into hardware, won GM of the Year in 2016, and racked up 276 wins as the guy calling the shots.
McGregor's spot is the one that hits different. He's the reason the Penguins exist at all, having organized the push to bring an NHL franchise to Pittsburgh and serving as team president from 1967 to 1970. He dropped the ceremonial first puck at both the inaugural game and the franchise's 50th anniversary in 2017. He passed away this past January, so this induction is posthumous — a fitting sendoff for the guy who started it all.
All 4 get honored with an on-ice ceremony ahead of the November 14 home game against the Ottawa Senators. Expect Fleury's return to PPG Paints Arena to be the emotional centerpiece, but this is really a night for the whole timeline — the founder, the builder, and the two players who delivered the trophies.