Bobby Carpenter C
Bobby Carpenter showed great offensive promise during the beginning part of his career with the Washington Capitals. He hit the 60-point plateau in his three first seasons and then scored 53 goals in 80 games in his fourth. However, after falling out of favor with head coach Bryan Murray, he would be traded to the Rangers early on into the 1986-87 season.
Yet, Carpenter’s stay with the Rangers would be extremely short. He would go on to play 28 games with them, where he scored two goals and had 10 points. From here, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Hockey Hall of Famer, Marcel Dionne. With the Kings, Carpenter was able to slightly find his offensive rhythm again. During the 1987-88 season, he had 52 points in 71 games.
Carpenter then played four seasons with his hometown Boston Bruins, where he became more known for his defensive play than offense. This improvement with his two-way play allowed him to stay in the league for a long time, even when his scoring contributions completely fell off. In his last five seasons in the league with the New Jersey Devils, he had under 20 points in each of them.
Alas, it was a long and solid career for Carpenter at the end of the day. In 1,178 games, he had 320 goals, 408 assists and 728 points. He also added on 919 penalty minutes. However, it is very unlikely that most hockey fans outside of New York remember him most for his short tenure with the Blueshirts.