2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins season

The 2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the team's 39th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The season was notable for being Sidney Crosby's rookie campaign. However, Crosby's inaugural season did not improve the team, as they suffered another losing season, finishing last place in the Eastern Conference with 58 points, the second worst in the NHL. The Penguins failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. It would be the final season where they missed the Stanley Cup playoffs until 2023 and the last season they finished with a losing record until 2025.

2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	5th Atlantic
Conference	15th Eastern
2005–06 record	22–46–14
Home record	12–21–8
Road record	10–25–6
Goals for	244
Goals against	316
Team information
General manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Eddie Olczyk (Oct.–Dec.) Michel Therrien (Dec.–Apr.)
Captain	Mario Lemieux (Oct.–Jan.) Vacant (Jan.–Apr.)
Alternate captains	Sidney Crosby (Dec.–Apr.) Sergei Gonchar John LeClair Mark Recchi (Oct.–Feb.) Josef Melichar
Arena	Mellon Arena
Average attendance	15,804[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Wheeling Nailers
Team leaders
Goals	Sidney Crosby (39)
Assists	Sidney Crosby (63)
Points	Sidney Crosby (102)
Penalty minutes	Brooks Orpik (124)
Plus/minus	Colby Armstrong (+15)
Wins	Marc-Andre Fleury (13)
Goals against average	Marc-Andre Fleury (3.25)
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Off-season

Regular season

Sidney Crosby with the Penguins.

The Penguins struggled defensively, finishing 30th overall in goals allowed, with 310 (excluding 6 shootout goals allowed).^[2][3]

Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby was selected first overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft by the Penguins on July 30, 2005. Due to the labour stoppage in the previous season, the 2005 draft was conducted via a weighted lottery based on each team's playoff appearances and draft lottery victories in the last four years. This lottery system led to the draft being popularly referred to as the "Sidney Crosby Lottery" or the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes".^[4]

On December 16, 2005, Michel Therrien named Crosby as an alternate captain for the Penguins. The move drew criticism from some hockey pundits, including Don Cherry, who claimed that Crosby had done nothing to earn the position.^[5]

Crosby finished his rookie season with the franchise record in assists (63) and points (102) for a rookie, both of which had been previously held by Mario Lemieux. Crosby is the youngest player in the history of the NHL to score 100 points in a single season, and only the seventh rookie ever to hit the benchmark.^[6] Overall, Crosby finished sixth in the NHL scoring race and seventh in the NHL in assists. Among Canadian NHL players, he trailed only Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley. While both Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals had impressive rookie campaigns, Crosby finished second behind Ovechkin for the Calder Memorial Trophy for NHL rookie of the year.

Through his first season, Crosby was accused by opposing players and coaches of taking dives and complaining to officials, which has been attributed to his youth.^[7] During his rookie campaign, he was second on his team and fourth among all NHL rookies in penalty minutes, and is the only rookie to accumulate both 100 points and 100 penalty minutes in a single season in NHL history. This magnified his reputation for complaining to NHL officials.^[8] Hockey analyst Kelly Hrudey compared Crosby to Gretzky, who had a similar reputation as a "whiner" in his youth, and suggested that as Crosby matured, he would mellow out and his reputation would fade.^[8]

Mario Lemieux

After the lockout concluded, Lemieux returned to the ice for the 2005–06 season. Hopes for the Penguins were high due to the salary cap and revenue sharing, which enabled the team to compete in the market for several star players. Another reason for optimism was the Penguins winning the lottery for the first draft pick, enabling them to select Sidney Crosby. Lemieux opened up his home to Crosby to help the rookie settle in Pittsburgh and Lemieux also served as Crosby's mentor.

On January 24, 2006, Lemieux announced his second and permanent retirement from professional hockey at age 40. This followed a half-season in which he struggled not only with the increased speed of the "new NHL" but also with yet another threatening physical ailment, a heart condition called atrial fibrillation that caused him to experience irregular heartbeats.

Although he had put up points at a pace that most NHL forwards would be perfectly content with (22 points in 26 games) in his last season, Lemieux still remarked, "I can no longer play at a level I was accustomed to in the past."

Season standings

Atlantic Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	New Jersey Devils	82	46	27	9	242	229	101
2	5	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	26	11	267	259	101
3	6	New York Rangers	82	44	26	12	257	215	100
4	12	New York Islanders	82	36	40	6	230	278	78
5	15	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	22	46	14	244	316	58

^[9]

Eastern Conference^[10]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	Y- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	52	22	8	294	260	112
3	Y- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	46	27	9	242	229	101
4	X- Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	52	24	6	242	239	110
5	X- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	26	11	267	259	101
6	X- New York Rangers	AT	82	44	26	12	257	215	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
8	X- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	43	33	6	252	260	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	41	33	8	281	275	90
11	Florida Panthers	SE	82	37	34	11	240	257	85
12	New York Islanders	AT	82	36	40	6	230	278	78
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	29	37	16	230	266	74
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	29	41	12	237	306	70
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	22	46	14	244	316	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched conference; Y – Clinched division; X – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Preseason

2005 preseason[11]
Preseason: 2–5–2 (home: 2–2–1; road: 0–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home Location/Attendance Record Recap 1 September 19 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 SO Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena 0–0–1 OTL 2 September 21 Boston Bruins 5–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza 0–0–2 OTL 3 September 23 Ottawa Senators 3–0 Pittsburgh Penguins Visions Veterans Memorial Arena 0–1–2 L 4 September 24 Ottawa Senators 6–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza 0–2–2 L 5 September 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 Washington Capitals Hersheypark Arena 0–3–2 L 6 September 27 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–7 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena 1–3–2 W 7 September 29 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–4 Ottawa Senators Corel Centre 1–4–2 L 8 September 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 Washington Capitals Verizon Center 1–5–2 L 9 October 2 Washington Capitals 1–7 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena 2–5–2 W
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) OTL Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Regular season

2005–06 regular season[12]
October: 1–5–5 (home: 1–3–2; road: 0–2–3), 7 Points # Oct Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 1 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–5 New Jersey Devils Mellon Arena (18,101) 0–1–0 0 L 2 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 SO Carolina Hurricanes Mellon Arena (18,787) 0–1–1 1 OTL 3 8 Boston Bruins 7–6 OT Pittsburgh Penguins TD Banknorth Garden (17,132) 0–1–2 2 OTL 4 10 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 OT Buffalo Sabres Mellon Arena (12,050) 0–1–3 3 OTL 5 14 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–6 OT Philadelphia Flyers Mellon Arena (19,566) 0–1–4 4 OTL 6 15 Tampa Bay Lightning 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (17,132) 0–2–4 4 L 7 20 New Jersey Devils 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (16,082) 0–3–4 4 L 8 22 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–6 Boston Bruins Mellon Arena (17,565) 0–4–4 4 L 9 25 Florida Panthers 4–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (14,636) 0–4–5 5 OTL 10 27 Atlanta Thrashers 5–7 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (14,009) 1–4–5 7 W 11 29 Carolina Hurricanes 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (16,420) 1–5–5 7 L
November: 6–7–1 (home: 2–3–1; road: 4–4–0), 13 Points # Nov Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 12 1 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 OT New Jersey Devils Mellon Arena (10,134) 2–5–5 9 W 13 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–1 New York Islanders Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (14,415) 3–5–5 11 W 14 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–6 Boston Bruins Mellon Arena (17,565) 3–6–5 11 L 15 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 New York Rangers Mellon Arena (18,200) 4–6–5 13 W 16 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–5 Atlanta Thrashers Mellon Arena (14,046) 4–7–5 13 L 17 10 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 SO Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (16,254) 5–7–5 15 W 18 12 New York Rangers 6–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Madison Square Garden (IV) (17,132) 5–8–5 15 L 19 14 New York Islanders 3–2 SO Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (10,793) 5–8–6 16 OTL 20 16 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers Mellon Arena (19,687) 6–8–6 18 W 21 19 Philadelphia Flyers 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Wachovia Center (17,132) 6–9–6 18 L 22 22 Washington Capitals 4–5 Pittsburgh Penguins Verizon Center (16,978) 7–9–6 20 W 23 25 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–6 Florida Panthers Mellon Arena (18,124) 7–10–6 20 L 24 27 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–4 Tampa Bay Lightning Mellon Arena (20,218) 7–11–6 20 L 25 29 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins HSBC Arena (15,118) 7–12–6 20 L
December: 3–5–2 (home: 3–1–2; road: 0–4–0), 8 Points # Dec Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 26 1 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–2 New York Rangers Mellon Arena (18,200) 7–13–6 20 L 27 3 Calgary Flames 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Pengrowth Saddledome (16,626) 7–14–6 20 L 28 8 Minnesota Wild 5–0 Pittsburgh Penguins Xcel Energy Center (14,627) 7–15–6 20 L 29 10 Colorado Avalanche 3–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (16,677) 8–15–6 22 W 30 12 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–3 Detroit Red Wings Mellon Arena (20,066) 8–16–6 22 L 31 13 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–3 St. Louis Blues Mellon Arena (14,336) 8–17–6 22 L 32 16 Buffalo Sabres 4–3 OT Pittsburgh Penguins HSBC Arena (16,648) 8–17–7 23 OTL 33 17 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 Buffalo Sabres Mellon Arena (18,690) 8–18–7 23 L 34 23 Philadelphia Flyers 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins Wachovia Center (17,132) 8–19–7 23 L 35 27 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Air Canada Centre (17,132) 8–19–8 24 OTL 36 29 New Jersey Devils 2–6 Pittsburgh Penguins Izod Center (17,132) 9–19–8 26 W 37 31 New York Rangers 3–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Madison Square Garden (IV) (17,132) 10–19–8 28 W
January: 2–11–2 (home: 1–5–0; road: 1–6–2), 6 Points # Jan Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 38 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–3 OT Toronto Maple Leafs Mellon Arena (19,449) 10–19–9 29 OTL 39 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–4 Montreal Canadiens Mellon Arena (21,273) 11–19–9 31 W 40 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–6 Atlanta Thrashers Mellon Arena (17,209) 11–20–9 31 L 41 7 Atlanta Thrashers 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Philips Arena (17,132) 11–21–9 31 L 42 10 Edmonton Oilers 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Rexall Place (14,905) 11–22–9 31 L 43 11 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–6 Columbus Blue Jackets Mellon Arena (18,136) 11–23–9 31 L 44 13 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–4 Chicago Blackhawks Mellon Arena (20,541) 11–24–9 31 L 45 15 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–5 Nashville Predators Mellon Arena (17,113) 11–25–9 31 L 46 16 Vancouver Canucks 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (15,681) 11–26–9 31 L 47 19 New York Rangers 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Madison Square Garden (IV) (14,272) 11–27–9 31 L 48 21 Philadelphia Flyers 2–1 Pittsburgh Penguins Wachovia Center (17,132) 11–28–9 31 L 49 23 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–4 Philadelphia Flyers Mellon Arena (19,726) 11–29–9 31 L 50 25 Washington Capitals 1–8 Pittsburgh Penguins Verizon Center (14,415) 12–29–9 33 W 51 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 SO New York Islanders Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (16,362) 12–29–10 34 OTL 52 28 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–7 New York Rangers Mellon Arena (18,200) 12–30–10 34 L
February: 2–4–1 (home: 0–2–1; road: 2–2–1), 5 Points # Feb Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 53 1 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–3 New York Rangers Mellon Arena (18,200) 12–31–10 34 L 54 2 Ottawa Senators 7–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Corel Centre (14,714) 12–32–10 34 L 55 4 New York Islanders 5–4 SO Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (11,218) 12–32–11 35 OTL 56 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Ottawa Senators Mellon Arena (19,877) 12–33–11 35 L 57 8 Boston Bruins 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins TD Banknorth Garden (15,603) 12–34–11 35 L 58 10 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 Carolina Hurricanes Mellon Arena (18,830) 13–34–11 37 W 59 11 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–3 Washington Capitals Mellon Arena (18,277) 14–34–11 39 W
March: 5–8–1 (home: 3–5–1; road: 2–3–0), 11 Points # Mar Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 60 1 Ottawa Senators 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Corel Centre (14,026) 14–35–11 39 L 61 4 Carolina Hurricanes 7–5 Pittsburgh Penguins RBC Center (16,293) 14–36–11 39 L 62 7 Tampa Bay Lightning 5–4 SO Pittsburgh Penguins St. Pete Times Forum (15,048) 14–36–12 40 OTL 63 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–6 Washington Capitals Mellon Arena (14,374) 14–37–12 40 L 64 11 New Jersey Devils 3–6 Pittsburgh Penguins Izod Center (16,061) 15–37–12 42 W 65 12 Philadelphia Flyers 0–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Wachovia Center (14,904) 16–37–12 44 W 66 16 Pittsburgh Penguins 1–2 New Jersey Devils Mellon Arena (11,513) 16–38–12 44 L 67 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–4 Montreal Canadiens Mellon Arena (21,273) 17–38–12 46 W 68 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0 Pittsburgh Penguins Air Canada Centre (15,174) 17–39–12 46 L 69 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Ottawa Senators Mellon Arena (19,360) 17–40–12 46 L 70 24 New York Islanders 3–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (11,286) 18–40–12 48 W 71 26 Montreal Canadiens 6–5 Pittsburgh Penguins Bell Centre (14,807) 18–41–12 48 L 72 29 Florida Panthers 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins BankAtlantic Center (14,024) 18–42–12 48 L 73 31 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–0 New York Islanders Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (15,210) 19–42–12 50 W
April: 3–4–2 (home: 2–0–1; road: 1–4–1), 8 Points # Apr Visitor Score Home Location Record Points Recap 74 2 New Jersey Devils 3–2 OT Pittsburgh Penguins Izod Center (14,427) 19–42–13 51 OTL 75 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–6 New Jersey Devils Mellon Arena (13,118) 19–43–13 51 L 76 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–1 Florida Panthers Mellon Arena (14,776) 20–43–13 53 W 77 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 0–1 Tampa Bay Lightning Mellon Arena (20,844) 20–44–13 53 L 78 11 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–4 Philadelphia Flyers Mellon Arena (19,756) 20–45–13 53 L 79 13 New York Rangers 3–5 Pittsburgh Penguins Madison Square Garden (IV) (15,155) 21–45–13 55 W 80 15 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–5 SO New York Islanders Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (17,084) 21–45–14 56 OTL 81 17 New York Islanders 1–6 Pittsburgh Penguins Mellon Arena (12,282) 22–45–14 58 W 82 18 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–5 Toronto Maple Leafs Mellon Arena (19,392) 22–46–14 58 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) OTL Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[13] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Sidney Crosby 81 39 63 102 -1 110 Sergei Gonchar 75 12 46 58 -13 100 Mark Recchi‡ 63 24 33 57 -28 56 John LeClair 73 22 29 51 -24 61 Ryan Malone 77 22 22 44 -22 63 Ziggy Palffy 42 11 31 42 5 12 Colby Armstrong 47 16 24 40 15 58 Ryan Whitney 68 6 32 38 -7 85 Michel Ouellet 50 16 16 32 -13 16 Ric Jackman‡ 49 6 22 28 -20 46 Tomas Surovy 53 12 13 25 -13 45 Mario Lemieux 26 7 15 22 -16 16 Andy Hilbert† 19 7 11 18 8 16 Josef Melichar 72 3 12 15 -2 66 Erik Christensen 33 6 7 13 -3 34 Eric Boguniecki† 38 5 6 11 -2 29 Dick Tarnstrom‡ 33 5 5 10 -10 52 Konstantin Koltsov 60 3 6 9 -10 20 Brooks Orpik 64 2 7 9 -3 124 Max Talbot 48 5 3 8 -12 59 Lasse Pirjeta 25 4 3 7 4 18 Jani Rita† 30 3 4 7 -6 4 Matt Murley 41 1 5 6 -9 24 Noah Welch 5 1 3 4 0 2 Steve Poapst‡ 21 0 4 4 -5 10 Rob Scuderi 57 0 4 4 -18 36 Andre Roy 42 2 1 3 -3 116 Shane Endicott 41 1 1 2 -9 43 Eric Cairns† 27 1 0 1 0 87 Ryan Vandenbussche 20 1 0 1 0 42 Lyle Odelein 27 0 1 1 -10 50 Cory Cross†‡ 6 0 1 1 -1 6 Matt Hussey 13 0 1 1 -5 0 Alain Nasreddine 6 0 0 0 2 8 Niklas Nordgren 15 0 0 0 -4 4 Rico Fata 20 0 0 0 -5 10 Guillaume Lefebvre 9 0 0 0 -3 9 Total 243 431 674 — 1,537

Goaltenders

Regular Season^[14]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Marc-Andre Fleury	50	45	2809:13	13	27	6	152	3.25	1485	0.898	1	0	1	0
Sebastien Caron	26	23	1312:18	8	9	5	87	3.98	733	0.881	1	0	1	0
Jocelyn Thibault	16	13	806:42	1	9	3	60	4.46	484	0.876	0	0	0	2
Dany Sabourin	1	1	20:33	0	1	0	4	11.68	14	0.714	0	0	0	0
Total		82	4948:46	22	46	14	303	3.67	2716	0.888	2	0	2	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

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Sidney Crosby (Forward)	[15]
League (in-season)	NHL Rookie of the Month	Sidney Crosby (October)	[16]
Team	A. T. Caggiano Memorial Booster Club Award	Sidney Crosby	[17]
	Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Good Guy Award	Sidney Crosby	[17]
	Michel Briere Memorial Rookie of the Year Trophy	Sidney Crosby	[17]
	Most Valuable Player Award	Sidney Crosby	[17]
	Players' Player Award	John LeClair	[17]
	The Edward J. DeBartolo Community Service Award	Colby Armstrong	[17]
		Marc-Andre Fleury
		Ryan Malone
		Ryan Whitney

Records

• Sidney Crosby set the franchise record for most assists (63) and points (102) as a rookie. He broke the previous records of 57 and 100 respectively set by Mario Lemieux in 1985.

Milestones

• Sidney Crosby played his first professional NHL game on October 5, 2005, against the New Jersey Devils, and registered an assist on the team's first goal of the season, scored by Mark Recchi in a 5–1 loss.^[18]
• November 11, 2005 – Sidney Crosby beat Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadiens to win his first career shootout.
• November 11, 2005- Mario Lemieux scores his seventh goal of the season, and the last of his career.
• November 22, 2005 – Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin face each other for the first time.
• March 12, 2006 – Marc-Andre Fleury gets a shutout by stopping 22 shots against the Philadelphia Flyers.
• March 29, 2006 – John LeClair scores the 400th goal of his career.^[19]
• January 24, 2006 – Mario Lemieux announces his retirement.
• April 13, 2006 – Sidney Crosby scores four points in one game, including his 90th point of the season.
• April 17, 2006 – Sidney Crosby becomes the youngest player to score 100 points in one season.

Transactions

The Penguins were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.^[20]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10)	To Chicago Blackhawks 4th-round pick in 2006	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jocelyn Thibault	[21]
September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09)	To Nashville Predators Kris Beech	To Pittsburgh Penguins Conditional draft pick	[22]
December 9, 2005 (2005-12-09)	To St. Louis Blues Steve Poapst	To Pittsburgh Penguins Eric Boguniecki	[23]
January 18, 2006 (2006-01-18)	To Florida Panthers 6th-round pick in 2006	To Pittsburgh Penguins Eric Cairns	[24]
January 26, 2006 (2006-01-26)	To Edmonton Oilers Dick Tarnstrom	To Pittsburgh Penguins Cory Cross Jani Rita	[25]
March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09)	To Florida Panthers Ric Jackman	To Pittsburgh Penguins Petr Taticek	[26]
	To Carolina Hurricanes Mark Recchi	To Pittsburgh Penguins Krys Kolanos Niklas Nordgren 2nd-round pick in 2007	[26]
	To Detroit Red Wings Cory Cross	To Pittsburgh Penguins 4th-round pick in 2007	[26]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03)	Sergei Gonchar	Boston Bruins	5-year	Free agency	[27]
August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04)	Andre Roy	Tampa Bay Lightning	3-year	Free agency	[28]
August 8, 2005 (2005-08-08)	Zigmund Palffy	HC Slavia Praha (ELH)	3-year	Free agency	[29][30]
August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10)	Dany Sabourin	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)		Free agency	[31]
August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15)	John LeClair	Philadelphia Flyers	2-year	Free agency	[32]
	Steve Poapst	Chicago Blackhawks		Free agency	[33]
September 2, 2005 (2005-09-02)	Lyle Odelein	Florida Panthers	1-year	Free agency	[34]
March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09)	Andy Hilbert	Chicago Blackhawks		Waivers	[26]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[a]	Ref
N/A	Darcy Robinson	Asiago HC (Serie A)	Free agency (UFA)	[36]
May 31, 2005 (2005-05-31)	Ross Lupaschuk	Mora IK (SHL)	Free agency (II)[b]	[38]
July 12, 2005 (2005-07-12)	Martin Strbak	HC CSKA Moscow (RSL)	Free agency (II)[c]	[40]
August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01)	Mike Eastwood[d]		Contract expiration (III)	[35]
August 8, 2005 (2005-08-08)	Ramzi Abid	Atlanta Thrashers	Free agency (VI)	[42]
August 18, 2005 (2005-08-18)	Matt Bradley	Washington Capitals	Free agency (UFA)	[43]
September 6, 2005 (2005-09-06)	Michal Rozsival	New York Rangers	Free agency (UFA)	[44]
October 2005 (2005-10)	Steven Crampton	Norfolk Admirals (AHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[45]
January 18, 2006 (2006-01-18)	Zigmund Palffy		Retirement	[46]
January 24, 2006 (2006-01-24)	Mario Lemieux		Retirement	[47]
January 31, 2006 (2006-01-31)	Rico Fata	Atlanta Thrashers	Waivers	[48]
May 2, 2006 (2006-05-02)	Jani Rita	Jokerit (Liiga)	Free agency[e]	[50]
May 10, 2006 (2006-05-10)	Niklas Nordgren	Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (NLA)	Free agency[f]	[52]
May 26, 2006 (2006-05-26)	Chris Kelleher	Linkoping HC (SHL)	Free agency	[53]
June 17, 2006 (2006-06-17)	Lasse Pirjeta	Malmo Redhawks (SHL)	Free agency	[54]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
July 27, 2005 (2005-07-27)	Paul Bissonnette		Entry-level	[55]
	Daniel Carcillo		Entry-level	[55]
	Stephen Dixon		Entry-level	[55]
	Jonathan Filewich		Entry-level	[55]
July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28)	Ryan Stone		Entry-level	[56]
July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29)	Andy Schneider		Entry-level	[57]
August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03)	Ryan Lannon	3-year	Entry-level	[58]
	Noah Welch	3-year	Entry-level	[58]
August 9, 2005 (2005-08-09)	Rob Scuderi		Re-signing	[59]
August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10)	Kris Beech	1-year	Re-signing	[60]
	Jocelyn Thibault	multi-year	Re-signing	[21]
August 11, 2005 (2005-08-11)	Shane Endicott	multi-year	Re-signing	[61]
August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12)	Colby Armstrong		Re-signing	[62]
August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15)	Matt Hussey		Re-signing	[63]
	Guillaume Lefebvre		Re-signing	[63]
	Josef Melichar	2-year	Re-signing	[64]
	Matt Murley		Re-signing	[65]
August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16)	Konstantin Koltsov		Re-signing	[66]
August 17, 2005 (2005-08-17)	David Koci		Re-signing	[67]
August 18, 2005 (2005-08-18)	Michel Ouellet	multi-year	Re-signing	[68]
August 24, 2005 (2005-08-24)	Daniel Fernholm		Entry-level	[69]
August 29, 2005 (2005-08-29)	Dick Tarnstrom	1-year	Arbitration award	[70]
September 1, 2005 (2005-09-01)	Ryan Malone		Re-signing	[71]
September 8, 2005 (2005-09-08)	Sidney Crosby	3-year	Entry-level	[72]
September 9, 2005 (2005-09-09)	Mario Lemieux	1-year	Re-signing	[73]
September 13, 2005 (2005-09-13)	Brooks Orpik	1-year	Re-signing	[74]
May 19, 2006 (2006-05-19)	Tyler Kennedy	multi-year	Entry-level	[75]
June 15, 2006 (2006-06-15)	Micki DuPont	multi-year	Re-signing	[76]

Other

Player	Date	Details
Kevin Stevens	September 2, 2005	Hired as scout
Eddie Olczyk[77]	December 15, 2005	Fired as head coach
John Welday	December 15, 2005	Fired as strength & conditioning coach
Randy Hillier[77]	December 15, 2005	Fired as assistant coach
Shane Clifford	December 15, 2005	Fired as goaltending coach
Joe Mullen[77]	December 15, 2005	Fired as assistant coach
Michel Therrien[78]	December 15, 2005	Hired as head coach
Stephane Dube	December 15, 2005	Hired as strength and conditioning coach
Mike Yeo	December 15, 2005	Hired as assistant coach
Gilles LeFebvre	December 15, 2005	Hired as goaltending coach
Craig Patrick[79]	April 20, 2006	Fired as GM
Ray Shero[80]	May 25, 2006	Hired as GM, 5-year contract

Draft picks

Pittsburgh's draft picks at the 2005 NHL entry draft held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario.^[81]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	1	Sidney Crosby	Center	Canada	Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)
2	61	Michael Gergen	Forward	United States	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN)
3	62	Kris Letang	Defense	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
4	125	Tommi Leinonen	Defense	Finland	Oulun Kärpät Jr. (Finland)
5	126	Tim Crowder	Right wing	Canada	South Surrey Eagles (BCHL)
6	194	Jean-Philippe Paquet	Defense	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
7	195	Joe Vitale	Center	United States	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)

Notes

1. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on August 1 if applicable.^[35]
2. Pittsburgh retained Lupaschuk’s NHL rights through the 2007–08 season.^[37]
3. Pittsburgh retained Strbak’s NHL rights through the 2005–06 season.^[39]
4. Eastwood retired.^[41]
5. Pittsburgh retained Rita's NHL rights through the 2008–09 season.^[49]
6. Pittsburgh retained Nordgren's NHL rights through the 2006–07 season.^[51]