# 1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's 30th in the National Hockey League. This was the final season for Mario Lemieux before his first retirement.

## Regular season

The 1996–97 season featured Mario Lemieux in his final season before his first retirement. Lemieux won his sixth (and final) Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, with 122 points. The Penguins had an up-and-down season en route to a sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. A 2–9–0 start was followed by a hot middle-of-the-season stretch, highlighted by the play of rookie phenom goaltender Patrick Lalime. A shoulder injury to Tom Barrasso ended his season after five unmemorable games and led to the promotion of Lalime from the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL). Lalime debuted in relief of Ken Wregget in a loss to the New York Rangers on November 16. His first win came in relief of Wregget on December 6, and the next day, on December 7, he was given the start against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, beating the Mighty Ducks and setting him well on his way to setting the NHL record for consecutive games unbeaten to begin a career for an NHL goaltender, going 14–0–2 (16 games). However, the Penguins cooled down after that, as the team did not win a road game after February 5, which led to a coaching change on March 4. Eddie Johnston was relieved of his duties as head coach after losing eight of his last nine games and was replaced on an interim basis by General Manager Craig Patrick. Patrick went 7–10–3 down the stretch, enough to get the Penguins into the playoffs as the sixth seed at 38–36–8. The Penguins finished the season first in scoring, with 285 goals for.

### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 237 | 208 | 92 |
| 2 | 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 285 | 280 | 84 |
| 3 | 7 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 226 | 234 | 77 |
| 4 | 8 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 249 | 276 | 77 |
| 5 | 10 | Hartford Whalers | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 226 | 256 | 75 |
| 6 | 13 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 234 | 300 | 61 |
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | New Jersey Devils | ATL | 82 | 45 | 23 | 14 | 231 | 182 | 104 |
| 2 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 237 | 208 | 92 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | ATL | 82 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 274 | 217 | 103 |
| 4 | Florida Panthers | ATL | 82 | 35 | 28 | 19 | 221 | 201 | 89 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | ATL | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 258 | 231 | 86 |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NE | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 285 | 280 | 84 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 226 | 234 | 77 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 249 | 276 | 77 |
| 9 | Washington Capitals | ATL | 82 | 33 | 40 | 9 | 214 | 231 | 75 |
| 10 | Hartford Whalers | NE | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 226 | 256 | 75 |
| 11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | ATL | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 217 | 247 | 74 |
| 12 | New York Islanders | ATL | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 240 | 250 | 70 |
| 13 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 234 | 300 | 61 |
Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs

## Playoffs

In the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Penguins lost, in five games, to the third-seeded Philadelphia Flyers, who went on to win the Eastern Conference championship. The Penguins' only win in the series was in Game 4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, in which Lemieux scored on a breakaway against Flyers goaltender Garth Snow in the closing minutes for his final goal, at home, before his first retirement.

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

1996–97 regular season :
October: 2–8–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 0–7–0), 4 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
1October 5Tampa Bay Lightning4–3 OTPittsburgh Penguins0–1–00Recap
2October 8Pittsburgh Penguins3–7Hartford Whalers0–2–00Recap
3October 11Pittsburgh Penguins2–3Ottawa Senators0–3–00Recap
4October 12Ottawa Senators2–3Pittsburgh Penguins1–3–02Recap
5October 16Pittsburgh Penguins1–8New York Rangers1–4–02Recap
6October 17Pittsburgh Penguins1–4Buffalo Sabres1–5–02Recap
7October 19Washington Capitals1–2Pittsburgh Penguins2–5–04Recap
8October 22Pittsburgh Penguins2–5Edmonton Oilers2–6–04Recap
9October 24Pittsburgh Penguins5–7Calgary Flames2–7–04Recap
10October 26Pittsburgh Penguins1–2Vancouver Canucks2–8–04Recap :
November: 6–5–2 (home: 5–1–1; road: 1–4–1), 14 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
11November 1Pittsburgh Penguins2–4Washington Capitals2–9–04Recap
12November 2Ottawa Senators3–7Pittsburgh Penguins3–9–06Recap
13November 6Edmonton Oilers2–5Pittsburgh Penguins4–9–08Recap
14November 8Pittsburgh Penguins5–5 OTTampa Bay Lightning4–9–19Recap
15November 9Pittsburgh Penguins2–4Florida Panthers4–10–19Recap
16November 12Buffalo Sabres0–3Pittsburgh Penguins5–10–111Recap
17November 14Pittsburgh Penguins1–2 OTBoston Bruins5–11–111Recap
18November 16New York Rangers8–3Pittsburgh Penguins5–12–111Recap
19November 19St. Louis Blues2–4Pittsburgh Penguins6–12–113Recap
20November 21Pittsburgh Penguins3–7Philadelphia Flyers6–13–113Recap
21November 22Pittsburgh Penguins7–1Hartford Whalers7–13–115Recap
22November 27Montreal Canadiens2–2 OTPittsburgh Penguins7–13–216Recap
23November 30Boston Bruins2–6Pittsburgh Penguins8–13–218Recap :
December: 11–2–2 (home: 4–1–2; road: 7–1–0), 24 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
24December 3Hartford Whalers4–4 OTPittsburgh Penguins8–13–319Recap
25December 4Pittsburgh Penguins4–2Ottawa Senators9–13–321Recap
26December 6Pittsburgh Penguins5–3Washington Capitals10–13–323Recap
27December 7Mighty Ducks of Anaheim3–5Pittsburgh Penguins11–13–325Recap
28December 10Pittsburgh Penguins5–3Los Angeles Kings12–13–327Recap
29December 11Pittsburgh Penguins7–3Mighty Ducks of Anaheim13–13–329Recap
30December 13Pittsburgh Penguins4–0San Jose Sharks14–13–331Recap
31December 15Pittsburgh Penguins1–2Chicago Blackhawks14–14–331Recap
32December 17Boston Bruins6–4Pittsburgh Penguins14–15–331Recap
33December 19Pittsburgh Penguins4–0St. Louis Blues15–15–333Recap
34December 21San Jose Sharks1–3Pittsburgh Penguins16–15–335Recap
35December 23Pittsburgh Penguins6–5Toronto Maple Leafs17–15–337Recap
36December 26Montreal Canadiens3–3 OTPittsburgh Penguins17–15–438Recap
37December 28Buffalo Sabres0–2Pittsburgh Penguins18–15–440Recap
38December 30Washington Capitals3–5Pittsburgh Penguins19–15–442Recap :
January: 8–3–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 4–1–1), 17 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
39January 2Pittsburgh Penguins6–1New Jersey Devils20–15–444Recap
40January 4Tampa Bay Lightning3–7Pittsburgh Penguins21–15–446Recap
41January 7Pittsburgh Penguins5–3New York Islanders22–15–448Recap
42January 10New York Islanders2–5Pittsburgh Penguins23–15–450Recap
43January 11Pittsburgh Penguins3–3 OTOttawa Senators23–15–551Recap
44January 14Dallas Stars1–3Pittsburgh Penguins24–15–553Recap
45January 15Pittsburgh Penguins3–0Hartford Whalers25–15–555Recap
46January 21Calgary Flames2–4Pittsburgh Penguins26–15–557Recap
47January 23Colorado Avalanche4–3 OTPittsburgh Penguins26–16–557Recap
48January 25New York Rangers7–4Pittsburgh Penguins26–17–557Recap
49January 26Pittsburgh Penguins5–2Montreal Canadiens27–17–559Recap
50January 29Pittsburgh Penguins1–3Buffalo Sabres27–18–559Recap :
February: 4–7–0 (home: 3–4–0; road: 1–3–0), 8 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
51February 1Phoenix Coyotes1–4Pittsburgh Penguins28–18–561Recap
52February 4Vancouver Canucks4–6Pittsburgh Penguins29–18–563Recap
53February 5Pittsburgh Penguins6–3Montreal Canadiens30–18–565Recap
54February 8Detroit Red Wings6–5 OTPittsburgh Penguins30–19–565Recap
55February 12New York Islanders5–1Pittsburgh Penguins30–20–565Recap
56February 15Pittsburgh Penguins1–5Philadelphia Flyers30–21–565Recap
57February 16Philadelphia Flyers6–2Pittsburgh Penguins30–22–565Recap
58February 18Florida Panthers2–4Pittsburgh Penguins31–22–567Recap
59February 22Chicago Blackhawks5–2Pittsburgh Penguins31–23–567Recap
60February 23Pittsburgh Penguins1–4New York Islanders31–24–567Recap
61February 27Pittsburgh Penguins1–4Detroit Red Wings31–25–567Recap :
March: 5–8–2 (home: 5–2–1; road: 0–6–1), 12 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
62March 1Pittsburgh Penguins3–6New Jersey Devils31–26–567Recap
63March 4New Jersey Devils3–1Pittsburgh Penguins31–27–567Recap
64March 5Pittsburgh Penguins2–4Buffalo Sabres31–28–567Recap
65March 8Philadelphia Flyers2–3 OTPittsburgh Penguins32–28–569Recap
66March 10Montreal Canadiens2–2 OTPittsburgh Penguins32–28–670Recap
67March 12Pittsburgh Penguins5–5 OTPhoenix Coyotes32–28–771Recap
68March 14Pittsburgh Penguins3–6Colorado Avalanche32–29–771Recap
69March 16Pittsburgh Penguins2–6Dallas Stars32–30–771Recap
70March 18Buffalo Sabres3–5Pittsburgh Penguins33–30–773Recap
71March 20Toronto Maple Leafs3–6Pittsburgh Penguins34–30–775Recap
72March 22New Jersey Devils3–2Pittsburgh Penguins34–31–775Recap
73March 24Pittsburgh Penguins0–3New York Rangers34–32–775Recap
74March 26Pittsburgh Penguins5–8Montreal Canadiens34–33–775Recap
75March 29Los Angeles Kings1–4Pittsburgh Penguins35–33–777Recap
76March 31Florida Panthers3–4Pittsburgh Penguins36–33–779Recap :
April: 2–3–1 (home: 2–0–1; road: 0–3–0), 5 Points
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPointsRecap
77April 3Hartford Whalers5–5 OTPittsburgh Penguins36–33–880Recap
78April 5Ottawa Senators2–5Pittsburgh Penguins37–33–882Recap
79April 8Boston Bruins1–3Pittsburgh Penguins38–33–884Recap
80April 10Pittsburgh Penguins3–4Tampa Bay Lightning38–34–884Recap
81April 11Pittsburgh Penguins2–4Florida Panthers38–35–884Recap
82April 13Pittsburgh Penguins3–7Boston Bruins38–36–884Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

### Playoffs

1997 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (3) Philadelphia Flyers – Flyers win 4–1
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeSeriesRecap
1April 17Pittsburgh Penguins1–5Philadelphia Flyers0–1Recap
2April 19Pittsburgh Penguins2–3Philadelphia Flyers0–2Recap
3April 21Philadelphia Flyers5–3Pittsburgh Penguins0–3Recap
4April 23Philadelphia Flyers1–4Pittsburgh Penguins1–3Recap
5April 26Pittsburgh Penguins3–6Philadelphia Flyers1–4Recap :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mario Lemieux | 76 | 50 | 72 | 122 | 27 | 65 |
| Jaromir Jagr | 63 | 47 | 48 | 95 | 22 | 40 |
| Ron Francis | 81 | 27 | 63 | 90 | 7 | 20 |
| Petr Nedved | 74 | 33 | 38 | 71 | –2 | 66 |
| Kevin Hatcher | 80 | 15 | 39 | 54 | 11 | 103 |
| Stu Barnes$^†$ | 62 | 17 | 22 | 39 | –20 | 16 |
| Jason Woolley$^†$ | 57 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 3 | 28 |
| Fredrik Olausson$^†$ | 51 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 21 | 24 |
| Tomas Sandstrom$^‡$ | 40 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 4 | 33 |
| Glen Murray$^‡$ | 66 | 11 | 11 | 22 | –19 | 24 |
| Joe Mullen | 54 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 0 | 4 |
| Alex Hicks$^†$ | 55 | 5 | 15 | 20 | –6 | 76 |
| Darius Kasparaitis$^†$ | 57 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 24 | 84 |
| Joe Dziedzic | 59 | 9 | 9 | 18 | –4 | 63 |
| Jean-Jacques Daigneault$^‡$ | 53 | 3 | 14 | 17 | –5 | 36 |
| Greg Johnson$^†$ | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | –13 | 14 |
| Eddie Olczyk$^†$ | 12 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 6 |
| Dave Roche | 61 | 5 | 5 | 10 | –13 | 155 |
| Ian Moran | 36 | 4 | 5 | 9 | –11 | 22 |
| Andreas Johansson$^†$ | 27 | 2 | 7 | 9 | –6 | 20 |
| Garry Valk$^†$ | 17 | 3 | 4 | 7 | –6 | 25 |
| Chris Tamer | 45 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –25 | 131 |
| Dmitri Mironov$^‡$ | 15 | 1 | 5 | 6 | –4 | 24 |
| Alek Stojanov | 35 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 79 |
| Jeff Christian | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –3 | 13 |
| Petr Klima$^{†‡}$ | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –4 | 4 |
| Josef Beranek | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | –1 | 4 |
| Craig Muni | 64 | 0 | 4 | 4 | –6 | 36 |
| Tyler Wright | 45 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –7 | 70 |
| Francois Leroux | 59 | 0 | 3 | 3 | –3 | 81 |
| Dan Quinn | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | –6 | 10 |
| Roman Oksiuta$^†$ | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –4 | 4 |
| Shawn Antoski$^‡$ | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
| Neil Wilkinson | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –12 | 36 |
| Ed Patterson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Richard Park$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Domenic Pittis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Stefan Bergqvist | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 7 |
| Total | Total | 285 | 495 | 780 | — | 1,480 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jaromir Jagr | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | –4 | 4 |
| Mario Lemieux | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | –4 | 4 |
| Ian Moran | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Jason Woolley | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
| Petr Nedved | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –2 | 12 |
| Ron Francis | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –7 | 2 |
| Kevin Hatcher | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –5 | 4 |
| Alex Hicks | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –1 | 2 |
| Eddie Olczyk | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –2 | 12 |
| Stu Barnes | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Johnson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 2 |
| Joe Dziedzic | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –1 | 4 |
| Fredrik Olausson | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –1 | 0 |
| Neil Wilkinson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 4 |
| Craig Muni | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Mullen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Tamer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 4 |
| Darius Kasparaitis | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –4 | 6 |
| Josef Beranek | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –4 | 2 |
| Francois Leroux | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 13 | 21 | 34 | — | 66 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Patrick Lalime | 39 | 2057:35 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 101 | 2.95 | 1166 | 0.913 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Wregget | 46 | 2514:23 | 17 | 17 | 6 | 136 | 3.25 | 1383 | 0.902 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Tom Barrasso | 5 | 269:37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 5.79 | 186 | 0.860 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Philippe De Rouville | 2 | 111:08 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3.24 | 66 | 0.909 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 4952:43 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 269 | 3.26 | 2801 | 0.904 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Ken Wregget | 5 | 297:28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 3.63 | 211 | 0.915 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 297:28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 3.63 | 211 | 0.915 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.

## Awards and records

* Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 600 goals for the Penguins. He did so in a 6–4 win over Vancouver on February 4, 1997.
* Mario Lemieux became the first person to score 1400 points for the Penguins. He did so with his first of 4 points in a 6–2 win over Boston on November 30, 1996.

### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | Art Ross Trophy | Mario Lemieux |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Patrick Lalime (Goaltender) |
| League (annual) | NHL First All-Star Team | Mario Lemieux (Center) |
| League (annual) | NHL Second All-Star Team | Jaromir Jagr (Right Wing) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Kevin Hatcher |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Jaromir Jagr |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Mario Lemieux |
| League (in-season) | NHL Rookie of the Month | Patrick Lalime (December) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Rookie of the Month | Patrick Lalime (January) |
| Team | A. T. Caggiano Memorial Booster Club Award | Mario Lemieux |
| Team | Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Good Guy Award | Ken Wregget |
| Team | Bob Johnson Memorial Badger Bob Award | Joe Mullen |
| Team | Leading Scorer Award | Mario Lemieux |
| Team | Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year Trophy | Patrick Lalime |
| Team | Most Valuable Player Award | Mario Lemieux |
| Team | Players' Player Award | Joe Mullen |
| Team | The Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award | Joe Dziedzic |
| Team | The Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award | Chris Tamer |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Domenic Pittis | October 26, 1996 |
| First game | Patrick Lalime | November 16, 1996 |
| 400th goal | Ron Francis | March 29, 1997 |
| 500th game played | Ken Wregget | March 29, 1997 |

## Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season:

### Trades

| October 25, 1996 | To Los Angeles Kings 1997 conditional pick (not exercised) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Petr Klima |
| November 17, 1996 | To New York Islanders Bryan Smolinski | To Pittsburgh Penguins Andreas Johansson Darius Kasparaitis |
| November 19, 1996 | To Florida Panthers Chris Wells | To Pittsburgh Penguins Stu Barnes Jason Woolley |
| November 19, 1996 | To Anaheim Ducks Shawn Antoski Dmitri Mironov | To Pittsburgh Penguins Alex Hicks Fredrik Olausson |
| January 27, 1997 | To Detroit Red Wings Tomas Sandstrom | To Pittsburgh Penguins Greg Johnson |
| February 21, 1997 | To Anaheim Ducks Jean-Jacques Daigneault | To Pittsburgh Penguins Garry Valk |
| March 18, 1997 | To Anaheim Ducks Richard Park | To Pittsburgh Penguins Roman Oksiuta |
| March 18, 1997 | To Los Angeles Kings Glen Murray | To Pittsburgh Penguins Ed Olczyk |
| March 18, 1997 | To Vancouver Canucks future considerations (1998 5th round pick) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Josef Beranek |

### Free agents

| Player | Acquired from | Lost to | Date |
| Kevin Todd | Los Angeles Kings | | July 10, 1996 |
| Kevin Miller | | Chicago Blackhawks | July 18, 1996 |
| Dave McLlwain | | New York Islanders | July 29, 1996 |
| Dan Quinn | Philadelphia Flyers | | July 31, 1996 |
| Shawn Antoski | Philadelphia Flyers | | July 31, 1996 |
| Joe Mullen | Boston Bruins | | September 5, 1996 |
| Greg Hawgood | | San Jose Sharks | September 7, 1996 |
| Craig Muni | Winnipeg Jets | | October 2, 1996 |
| Petr Klima | | Edmonton Oilers | February 26, 1997 |

### Waivers

| Player | Lost to | Date |
| Chris Joseph | Vancouver Canucks | September 30, 1996 |
| Corey Foster | New York Islanders | September 30, 1996 |
| Kevin Todd | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | October 4, 1996 |

### Other

| Name | Details | Date |
| Craig Patrick | 5-year extension (VP & GM) | June 27, 1996 |
| Eddie Johnston | Extension (Head Coach) | June 27, 1996 |
| Craig Patrick | Hired as Head Coach (in addition to GM) | March 3, 1997 |
| Eddie Johnston | Reassigned to Assistant GM | March 3, 1997 |
| Craig Patrick | Replaced as Head Coach (remained as GM) | April 26, 1997 |
| Mario Lemieux | Retired | April 26, 1997 |
| Kevin Constantine | Hired as Head Coach | June 12, 1997 |

## Draft picks

Pittsburgh Penguins' picks at the 1996 NHL entry draft.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 23 | Craig Hillier | Goaltender | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
| 2 | 28 | Pavel Skrbek | Defense | Czech Republic | HC Kladno (Czech) |
| 3 | 72 | Boyd Kane | Left Wing | Canada | Regina Pats (WHL) |
| 3 | 77 | Borys Protsenko | Right Wing | Ukraine | Calgary Hitmen (WHL) |
| 4 | 105 | Michal Rozsival | Defense | Czech Republic | Dukla Jihlava (Czech) |
| 6 | 150 | Peter Bergman | Center | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 7 | 186 | Eric Meloche | Right Wing | Canada | Cornwall Colts (COJHL) |
| 9 | 238 | Timo Seikkula | Center | Finland | Junkkarit (Finland) |

### Draft notes

* $^a$ The New Jersey Devils' second-round pick (from San Jose Sharks) went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of a June 22, 1996, trade that sent two second-round picks to the Devils in exchange for this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' second-round pick (from Toronto Maple Leafs) went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a June 22, 1996, trade that sent a second-round pick to the Penguins in exchange for a second-round pick and this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' second-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a June 22, 1996, trade that sent a second-round pick to the Penguins in exchange for a second-round pick and this pick.
* $^b$ The Boston Bruins' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a result of an August 1, 1995, trade that sent Kevin Stevens and Shawn McEachern to the Bruins in exchange for Glen Murray, Bryan Smolinski and this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' fifth-round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of a March 20, 1996, trade that sent Kevin Miller to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.
* $^c$ Compensatory pick received from NHL as compensation for free agent Joe Mullen.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' sixth-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a March 20, 1996, trade that sent J. J. Daigneault to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' seventh-round pick (from NHL as compensation for free agent Kjell Samuelsson) went to the Edmonton Oilers as the result of a June 22, 1996, trade that sent Tyler Wright to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' eighth-round pick went to the Ottawa Senators as the result of a March 1, 1996, trade that sent Dave McLlwain to the Penguins in exchange for this pick.

## Farm teams

The Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League finished last in the North Division with a 24–39–7 record.
The IHL's Cleveland Lumberjacks finished second in the Central Division with a record of 40–32–10. They defeated the Indianapolis Ice in the first round 3–1, then defeated the Orlando Solar Bears in the second round 4–1 before losing to the eventual Turner Cup champion Detroit Vipers, 4–1.