The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be keeping their captain around for at least one more season, inking Tom Kostopoulos to a one-year AHL deal. Kostopoulos, veteran of 630 NHL games, has played solely in the AHL for the past four seasons. This will be his 19th professional season, and he has yet to show any sense of slowing down at the minor league level.
Kostopoulos was used as a bottom-six winger who was willing to drop the gloves to defend a teammate, registering 64 fights across his NHL career. That tough-guy portrait betrayed the amount of skill he had though, as he has continually registered excellent offensive numbers in the AHL. Just this year at the age of 38, Kostopoulos recorded 24 goals and 54 points, though couldn’t lead the WBS Penguins out of the first round. For his AHL career he has 521 points, including a career-high 71 in 2004-05.
While he won’t play a part in Pittsburgh next season, he will surely remain an icon in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Kostopoulos is headed for the AHL Hall of Fame some day, but it won’t be just yet. He’ll turn 39 next season.