RW, Pavel Bure, (1998-2002)
They don’t call him the “Russian Rocket” for nothing.
Pavel Bure was arguably one of the most entertaining players in NHL history. His speed and skill was something straight out of a Jason Statham movie.
Bure remains first place of all-time for Panthers points-per-game totals, averaging an impressive 1.126 during his time in Florida.
As mentioned previously, he held the record for the most offensively productive year for nearly 20 years until Barkov came along and claimed that accolade.
However, he still holds the record for most goals in a season with 59 in 2000-01. I should add that he also scored 58 the year prior and that he won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer both years.
To this day, he remains the only Panther to be awarded that honor. The guy was a goal-scoring machine.
Aside from being an all-out offensive weapon, Bure also shared the captaincy with defenseman Paul Laus for the 2001-02 season.
Bure was a leader on the ice and an exceptional hockey player, which earned him the respect of opponents and, more importantly, his teammates.
During his fourth year as a member of the organization, he was traded to the New York Rangers where he went on to play one last full season in 2002-03.
Unfortunately, Bure’s career was cut short at the age of just 32 due to chronic knee injuries.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.
Bure sits in eleventh place for most points (779) ever recorded by a Russian-born player and has the third-best points-per-game ratio (1.11) behind Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
I’m sure the Cats would love to find the reincarnation of Mr. Bure, but players like that don’t grow on trees.