Sergei Gonchar Sergei Viktorovich Gonchar ( Russian : Серге́й Ви́кторович Гонча́р ; [ sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐnˈtɕar ] ; born 13 April 1974 ) is a former Russian professional ice hockey player who is currently a coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins . He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League ( NHL ) for the Washington Capitals , Boston Bruins , Pittsburgh Penguins ( with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2009 ) , Ottawa Senators , Dallas Stars and the Montreal Canadiens . Playing career . Sergei Gonchar began his professional career in 1991 with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Russian Super League . He also played two seasons for Dynamo Moscow . Gonchar was the 1st round pick , 14th overall , of the Washington Capitals in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft . He began his North America n career in 1994 , suiting up in two playoff games for the Capitals ' American Hockey League ( AHL ) affiliate , the Portland Pirates . He continued with Portland in 1994 – 95 , before making his NHL debut , with the Capitals , on February 7 , 1995 against the Buffalo Sabres . He would appear in 31 games total during the lockout - shortened 1994 – 95 season . The following year , in his first full - length campaign in the NHL , Gonchar would tally 41 points , showing his potential as an effective offensive defenceman . After 57 and 67 - point ( tied for a career high ) seasons in 2000 – 01 and 2002 – 03 respectively , Gonchar was named to the Second All - Star Team both seasons . On March 3 , 2004 , in his ninth season with the Capitals , Gonchar was traded to the Boston Bruins for Shaone Morrisonn and two draft picks in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft . Finishing the season with Boston , he would tally 58 points , leading all league defencemen . Between 2000 and 2004 , Gonchar recorded more points than any other defenceman , with 74 goals and 241 points . During the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , Gonchar returned to Russia to play for Metallurg Magnitogorsk , where he played with future teammates Petr Sýkora and Evgeni Malkin . After the lockout , Gonchar signed a 5 - year , $ 25 million deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins on August 4 , 2005 . In 2006 – 07 , his second season with Pittsburgh , Gonchar tied a career - high with 67 points . In addition to his on - ice duties for the Penguins , Gonchar housed rookie Evgeni Malkin when he arrived from Russia in October 2006 . The following season , Gonchar helped lead the Penguins with offensive superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals – the franchise ' s first finals appearance since 1992 . After a 65 - point regular season ( the eighth 50 - plus point season of his career ) , Gonchar added 14 points in 20 playoff games en route to a match - up against the Detroit Red Wings . Despite staving off elimination in a game five overtime win , the Penguins were defeated in game six . During the first game of the 2008 – 09 pre - season , Gonchar was hit into the boards by David Kočí in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning , dislocating his shoulder . It was reported that he would miss 4 - 6 months after opting for arthroscopic surgery . While both Gonchar and defensive partner Brooks Orpik claimed the hit was late , well after Gonchar had completed a pass , it was asserted by coach Michel Therrien as a clean hit and that Koci had simply " finished his check " . With the Penguins struggling to make the playoffs , Gonchar returned to play his first game of the season for the February 14 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after being sidelined for 21 weeks . He played in the final 25 games of the regular season and tallied 19 points , helping the Penguins into the 2009 playoffs as the fourth seed . However , playing in game four of the Conference Semi - Finals against the Washington Capitals , Gonchar suffered a knee injury after receiving a knee - on - knee hit from Alexander Ovechkin . Despite being initially expected to be out for several weeks and possibly the remainder of the playoffs , Gonchar returned for game seven of the series . Gonchar and the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup in seven games , facing the Detroit Red Wings for the second consecutive year . After winning , he revealed he had been playing with a partially torn medial collateral ligament ( MCL ) . Gonchar was sidelined with injuries again for a total of 20 games in the 2009 - 10 season . Despite missing time , he went on to record his ninth 50 - point season in the past 10 seasons , besting Nicklas Lidström ' s eight . He also had his 11th season with ten goals or more , tying Sergei Zubov for the most 10 + goal seasons among Russian defencemen . Gonchar finished the season third in points - per - game average among defencemen ( behind Norris Trophy nominees Mike Green and Duncan Keith ) . He set an NHL record on 2 March 2010 , by scoring his 200th NHL goal , making him the first Russian defenceman to ever do so . From the 2000 – 01 season to the 2009 – 10 season , Gonchar tallied exactly 500 points , which was second among NHL defencemen only to Nicklas Lidström ' s 550 . Gonchar was also second among NHL defencemen in assists during that span with 372 assists , behind Lidström ' s 434 . He led the League in goals by a defenceman during that span , with 128 . Rob Blake was second with 119 goals , while Lidström had 116 . Gonchar led the NHL in points - per - game average among NHL defencemen during that span , scoring at 0 . 80 points per game to Lidström ' s 0 . 76 points per game . He also led the league in goals created per game among NHL defencemen with 0 . 27 to Al MacInnis ' s 0 . 26 and Lidström ' s 0 . 25 . In fact , since his first NHL season in 1995 , only Lidström scored more points among defencemen — Lidström tallied 889 points in that time , while Gonchar had 684 On 1 July 2010 , Gonchar signed a three - year , $ 16 million contract with the Ottawa Senators . The deal included a no - trade clause . During the 2012 – 13 NHL lockout , Gonchar returned to his native Russia to play with the Kontinental Hockey League ( KHL ) ' s Metallurg Magnitogorsk . He was traded on 7 June 2013 , to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a conditional sixth - round pick in 2013 . On 8 June 2013 , Gonchar signed a two - year , $ 10 million contract with the Stars . The following year , on 11 November 2014 , Gonchar was again traded , this time to the Montreal Canadiens for left winger Travis Moen . On 15 May 2015 , it was announced by Canadiens ' GM Marc Bergevin , that Gonchar would not return to the Montreal Canadiens the next season . Gonchar remained un - signed over the summer , and accepted an invitation to return to the Pittsburgh Penguins ' training camp on a try - out basis on 14 August 2015 . At the conclusion of training camp and during the pre - season , Gonchar was released by the Penguins on October 3rd 2015 . He then announced his retirement 24 days later , and became a development coach for the Penguins