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I Can Hear the Penguins’ Cup Window Closing

It was the very first move Jim Rutherford made when he took over as Penguins general manager back in 2014. Sensing his new team was badly in need of a culture change, he shipped high-scoring but prickly forward James Neal to Nashville for forwards Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling.

While Spaling became part of an even larger trade for Phil Kessel the following summer, Hornqvist was everything Rutherford hoped he would be and more. The heart-and-soul winger with a penchant for driving opposing goalies and defensemen nuts with his maniacal play around the net also altered the Pens’ pulse while becoming the team’s emotional power plant.