The Real Mark Donks

A look at some members of the seemingly endless flow of pretty good Penguins

This tweet by hockey Twitter mainstay Acting the Fulemin came amidst a Penguins 6-1 clubbing of the Maple Leafs in which Dominik Kahun and John Marino dominated in the place of injured superstars Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. “Mark Donk” has now completely entered the lexicon on hockey Twitter as essentially any relatively unknown/unhyped player bursting onto the scene to fill the role of an injured star.

As you may have guessed, the Penguins have had a lot of these player who, despite not being stars, played major roles on good teams when called upon.

So here, in no particular order, are the real Mark Donks

Dustin Jeffrey

Best Stat Line: 7-5-12 in 25 GP in 2011

Would you believe me if I told you that Dustin Jeffrey never played more than 26 games in a single season for the Pens? It’s true. I remember Jeffrey as a solid player that seemed to always be pitching in but only when the Pens were beaten up. Dustin Jeffrey was a spectacular band-aid for parts of six seasons. Truly a “good guy to have around” type of player.

Chris Conner

Best Stat Line: 7-9-16 in 60 GP in 2011

Chris Conner really seemed like a young, up and comer when he came up in 2010 and 2011. He was small, fast, tenacious, and also, apparently, already 27. Conner was a reliable and flexible player, a Swiss Army Knife like early career Bryan Rust. While he didn’t have a ton of finish, he chipped in a decent number of goals relative to his ice time.

Brian Gibbons

Best Stat Line (with the Penguins): 5-12-17 in 41 GP in 2014

The Mark Donk for Hire. Every few years Brian Gibbons just explodes for 20 or so games but this all started with the Penguins. Brian Gibbons didn’t really “explode” with the Penguins like he would with the Devils and Senators later in his career, but he was a valuable piece on a Penguin team that suffered longer-term injuries to both Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. Gibbons was a burner with a nose for the net, but he was also very good at limiting opportunities against. An elite PK guy, Gibbons was relied on in the playoffs for his shorthanded play and was effective, including a shorthanded goal coming as part of a two-goal effort in an OT loss to Columbus.

Brett Sterling

Best Stat Line: 3-2-5 in 7 GP in 2011

I’m going to be totally honest here, I have no recollection of this guy. The 2011 Penguins were threadbare at forward with Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, and Staal missing long stretches of time. These absences resulted in an army of Donks and Flibbets. Sterling was a great college player with Colorado College and then had a tremendous AHL career. His stay with the Penguins was brief, only 7 games, but he notched 3 goals, had 2 assists, and earned a misconduct in maybe the most infamous game of the Crosby era.

Scott Wilson:

Best Stat Line: 8-18-26 in 78 GP in 2017

There was a time when some people thought Scott Wilson was the best of the gang of young Pens that would help win two cups. Better than Conor Sheary, better than Bryan Rust. It makes a bit more sense when you look at Wilson’s AHL stats that include 22 goals in only 34 games, he was bound to be Malkin’s new sniper. He was good, not a star, his numbers until that prolific AHL season didn’t really point to him as a star anyway if we’re being honest. After being an everyday player on a team that won the cup, Wilson became a healthy scratch on some awful Sabres teams just over a year later. If that isn’t the career arc of a Buzz Flibbet, I don’t know what is.

Frederick Gaudreau:

Best Stat Line: 2-8-10 in 19 GP in 2021

Freddy Gaudreau may have completely revitalized his career with his very short time with the Penguins. The recent Mark Donk brought exciting puck skills and a sound two-way game to a Penguins team that needed exactly him. Though not particularly fast, Gaudreau was extremely smart and extremely skilled and cemented the bottom six, completely supplanting Mark Jankowski.

Evan Rodrigues:

Best Stat Line: 15-18-33 in 49 GP in 2022 (ongoing)

Remember how this all started clubbing the Leafs? Let’s circle back to that. Evan Rodrigues was tasked with the top center role while the Penguins were without their top three centers in Crosby, Malkin, and Jeff Carter. Rodrigues had a goal and an assist in a dominant 7-1 win over one of the league’s best teams. The rest of this season he’s been off to the races setting career-highs in goals and points at only the midway point of the season.

I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why the Penguins can pull solid players out of thin air. Maybe it’s just the greatness of Crosby and Malkin. Maybe it’s the fact the Penguins have been good for long enough that they don’t need to rush up their young players (see the log jam that kept Teddy Blueger in the AHL until he was nearly 25). Whatever it is, the Penguins do it, and now with Mike Sullivan at the helm with his knack for proper player utilization, I’m not sure they’ll ever stop.