2004 NHL Re-Draft

The 2019-20 National Hockey League season continues to be on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak that has shut down most of the sports world. While the NHL waits for a possible outcome surrounding COVID-19, the league will continue to hold and see if a window can open to finish out the rest of the season.

In the meantime, we are here trying to find ways to pass the time and find any fun ideas or topics to talk about.

This time, we take a look back at the 2004 NHL Draft, which featured two Hall of Fame players at the top of the class: 

 

There was not much doubt that Ovechkin was going to go with the first overall selection in the NHL Draft.

Ovechkin was one of the highest regarded prospects for the NHL since he was a 14-year-old playing in juniors over in Russia, and if he had been born just two days earlier, it's very likely that he would have gone with the first overall selection in the 2003 NHL Draft.

In his 15-year career with the Capitals, Ovechkin has, arguably, become the greatest goal scorer in NHL history with his 706 goals in 1,152 games in Washington. This season alone, Ovechkin has shot himself up to eighth place on the all-time goal scoring list, and has placed himself within 188 goals of matching Wayne Gretzky's goal scoring record of 894 goals.

Just imagine where those goal totals could be if Ovechkin didn't miss the 2004-05 season due to the lockout, or half of the 2012-13 season due to another lockout. Not to mention, will he be able to add to his total this season if the NHL returns to regular season action from the coronavirus stoppage? He led the league with 48 goals in 68 games before the season was put on hold.

It is quite astounding just how great of a goal scorer Ovechkin has consistently been throughout his career. The 34-year-old has eclipsed the 40-goal mark in 11 of his 15 seasons in the league, and has never had worse than 32 goals in a season. Those 32 goals led the league in 48 games played during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season. Ovechkin has also reached the 50-goal mark eight times in his career, which included a career-high 65-goal season in the 2007-08 season where he won the first of three career Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player.

Will he be able to break Gretzky's goal-scoring record? How many more championships can Ovechkin win while in Washington? What else is in store for Ovechkin's Hall of Fame career?

There's still plenty to come from "The Great 8".

 

Malkin was the only player that had any chance of challenging Ovechkin for the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, but even then he was seen as a distant upset to be taken by the Capitals.

However, the 33-year-old has put up a stellar career of his own in Pittsburgh playing primarily as the second line center behind Sidney Crosby. In just 907 career games in the NHL, Malkin has already eclipsed the 1,000-career points mark and has averaged 1.186 points per-game in his career. That mark currently has him ranked 14th on the NHL's all-time points per-game leaderboard.

Compared to Ovechkin, Malkin is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins, winning it in 2009 and then back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. As a 22-year-old, Malkin won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer with 113 points (35+78) in 82 games. He then went on to score 36 points (14+22) in 24 playoff games en route to winning the Stanley Cup, as well as the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

As long as Malkin can stay healthy himself, he will continue to rack up the points and continue to add on to his stellar career.

 

Rinne was the 30th of 33 goalies taken in the 2004 NHL Draft and has, by far, been the best goaltender to come from the class as an eighth round pick of the Nashville Predators.

In his 14-year-career in the NHL, Rinne has played in 659 games after earning the full-time starting job in Nashville back in the 2008-09 season. Overall, the 37-year-old has registered a 359-201-74 record with a 2.42 career goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and 58 shutouts. Rinne has also been named a two-time NHL All-Star, and was named the Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's best goaltender for the 2017-18 season. That year saw him go 42-13-4 in goal with a 2.31 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and a league-high eight shutouts.

Rinne has also helped Nashville to a Stanley Cup appearance in 2017, where he went 14-8 in 22 playoff games with a 1.96 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage and two shutouts. However, the Predators were unable to top the Penguins, who won their second consecutive Stanley Cup in six games.

This season had been a struggle for Rinne in 36 games with a 18-14-4 record with a 3.17 goals-against average, a .895 save percentage and three shutouts. Over the past couple of years, Rinne's workload has started to diminish as backup goalie Juuse Saros is continuing to get slowly acclimated to the starting role.

The Finnish netminder has one more year left on his contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent, but how much longer does Rinne have to give in goal? He's certainly on the downward slope of his career, but it's been a great one nonetheless. All that's missing is a Stanley Cup ring.

 

After the top-two picks of the draft class with Ovechkin and Malkin, the scoring drops quite drastically as Wheeler is the third-leading scorer of the class with 761 points (264+497) in 931 career games.

While the numbers at the top of the class drop off, the quality of play from Wheeler has seemed to get better and better as the years go on.

Wheeler was originally drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes fifth overall, but he never ended up playing a game in Glendale, Arizona as after spending four seasons at the University of Minnesota, he decided to test the free agent market and sign with the Boston Bruins.

In parts of three seasons with the Bruins, Wheeler played a much more limited role than compared to today, registering 110 points (50+60) in 221 games played. In February of 2011, Boston traded Wheeler to the Atlanta Thrashers, where he ended up getting in 23 games and scoring 17 points (7+10) in a top-six role.

Wheeler was part of the group that re-located from Atlanta to Winnipeg, and his role only grew more with the Jets. By his fifth season in the organization, Wheeler had become a pivotal part of the leadership group, and was eventually named the team captain before the 2016-17 season. In parts of his 10 seasons with the Thrashers/Jets organization, Wheeler has scored 214 goals and amassed 437 assists for 651 points in 710 games. 

In 71 games before the pause of the 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus, Wheeler was having another decent season with 22 goals and 43 assists for 65 points in 71 games. That may be a slight step back from 91-point campaigns in back-to-back years, but he was still on pace to put up a respectable 75 points (25+50) in a full 82-game schedule.

Wheeler did just sign a contract extension prior to the start of the 2018-19 season and has four more years remaining on his current deal with an average-annual value of $8.25 million. The 33-year-old is on the cusp of eclipsing the 1,000 games mark for his career next season, and he likely has a few more years of some top-notch play in Winnipeg.

 

This draft class was loaded with prospects from the Czech Republic. Some of them turned out to be pretty good, while most of the others ended up flopping, especially the players taken in the first round. In all, the Czechs led the way for all European countries with 21 players being selected in the 2004 draft class.

The best Czech player to come out of this group has been Krejci and it's not even close.

The 33-year-old has firmly established himself as a second or third line center in his 14 seasons with the Bruins, where he has collected 207 goals and 479 assists for 686 points in 911 games. Krejci has registered 50 or more points eight times in his career, including a pair of 73-points seasons in 2008-09, and more recently in the 2018-19 season. He has a Stanley Cup title to his name back in 2011, and he has been a solid weapon for the Bruins up and down the lineup, as well as on the special team units over the past several seasons. 

While Krejci may not be a Hall of Fame caliber player with this Bruins squad, he still has quite a few years to give and be a very solid player down the middle. However, he will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2020-21 season.

 

The start of Radulov's career in the NHL did not get off to the greatest of starts, but his recent success in stretches with the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars have put him higher up on this list.

Radulov ended up making his NHL debut during the 2006-07 with the Predators where he scored 18 goals and registered 19 assists for 37 points in 64 games. The next season saw a nice increase in production with 26 goals and 32 assists for 58 points in 81 games. However, the Russian winger ended up going back home and spending the next four seasons playing for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the Kontinental Hockey League.

At the end of his fourth season in Ufa, Russia, Radulov returned to the NHL and finished out the 2011-12 season with the Predators, but was a non-factor with just seven points (3+4) in nine regular season games and six points (1+5) in eight playoff games. He then became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and ended up returning to the KHL to play with CSKA Moscow for the next four seasons.

Before the 2016-17 season, the then-29-year-old Radulov wanted to make another comeback to the NHL and ended up signing a one-year deal with the Canadiens that saw him getting $5.75 million. He put that contract to good use as he took on a top line role in Montreal, where he scored 18 goals and picked up 36 assists for 54 points in 76 games. In the playoffs, Radulov scored a pair of goals, including an overtime winner in Game 2 of their series with the New York Rangers. Despite ending up with seven points in six games, the Canadiens were eliminated in the opening round.

The Canadiens elected to move on from Radulov in the offseason, making him a free agent, where he ended up signing a five-year deal to join the Stars.

So far in parts of three seasons in Dallas, Radulov has played well as a top-six player, scoring 71 goals and registering 178 points in 212 games. In last year's playoffs, Radulov put up a respectable 10 points (5+5) in 13 games, but the Stars were eventually eliminated in the Western Conference Semifinal round to the eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.

Overall, Radulov has scored at a very respectable 0.756 points per-game rate in his 442-game NHL career. While in the KHL, Radulov was a star with 492 points (169+323) in 391 regular season games.

If the 33-year-old can continue to play at a decent pace in his remaining time in the NHL, he will continue to be a dangerous weapon on the ice no matter where he plays.

 

While injuries have slightly de-railed Zajac's career and his style of play to a degree, he has still been an impactful player in his 991 games with the Devils.

The 34-year-old got off to a promising start to his career, registering 249 points (89+160) in 408 games, while missing only two games along the way. However, he ended up tearing his Achilles tendon before the 2011-12 season, which caused him to miss 67 of 82 games that year. However, he returned and produced well in the postseason, scoring 14 points (7+7) in 24 games en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings.

Since that run, Zajac's production has been below what he had produced at first down the middle for New Jersey, scoring 104 goals and picking up 173 assists for 278 points in 568 games. The Devils have also only been to the playoffs once since their 2012 Stanley Cup run, losing in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018.

Overall, Zajac has been a decent player in his career as an impactful two-way player at center. He's played in plenty of big moments for the Devils, which included an overtime game-winning goal in the 2012 playoffs against the Florida Panthers to force a deciding Game 7.

Zajac has one more year remaining on his contract with the Devils before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2021.

 

Green's impact at the NHL level was not truly felt until his third season in the NHL when he played his first full season with the Capitals and picked up 18 goals and 56 points in 82 games from the blue line.

Over the next two years, Green had his best production in the NHL with a 73-point campaign (31+42) in the 2008-09 season, followed by a career-high 76-point campaign (19+51) in the 2009-10 season. He was named an NHL All-Star in both seasons, while also finishing in second place for the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL each year.

However, injuries threw a wrench into things over the next two years and since then, Green did not have the same impact from the blue line as he once did.

Following the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, Green spent two more seasons in Washington, picking up 19 goals and 83 points in 142 games before signing a free agent contract with the Detroit Red Wings. He found some consistency in those three years, where he averaged 9.6 goals, 25 assists and 34.6 points in 70.7 games and earned himself a two-year contract extension in Detroit.

After another year and a half with the Red Wings, Green was traded at this year's trade deadline to the Edmonton Oilers, but only played in two games before suffering a knee injury.

What made Green such a threat from the blue line was his offensive capabilities from the right side of the blue line. He could score goals, be a quarterback on the power play, while also distributing the puck to create more offensive chances. Although his production and impact has decreased a bit over the years, he's had plenty of past success to be a top-10 pick in the re-draft.

 

Ladd's recent days in the NHL have been riddled with injury, but he was a very solid two-way player on the wing when he was in the prime of his career.

His career started with a Stanley Cup ring with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 as he picked up two goals and three assists for five points in 17 playoff games after a 2005-06 season of 11 points (6+5) in 29 games. Ladd went on to become a full-time NHLer the next season and played parts of the next two seasons in Carolina, picking up 20 goals and 19 assists for 39 points in 108 games.

At the trade deadline in 2008, the Hurricanes moved Ladd to the Blackhawks, where he ended up becoming a key piece of Chicago's team as they began their dynasty run. In 203 career games in Chicago, Ladd went on to score 45 goals and add 66 assists for 111 points. In the Blackhawks' run to a Stanley Cup championship in 2010, Ladd scored three goals and added three helpers in 19 games as a key middle depth piece to the lineup.

After the season, Ladd was traded again to the Atlanta Thrashers, where he ended up spending parts of the next six seasons with that organization. He was named captain of the team part way during the 2010-11 season, and he eventually signed a contract extension as the team made its move to Winnipeg. With the Jets, Ladd went on to put up his best career totals, including the 2014-15 season with a 62-point campaign (24+38) and helping the Jets to its first franchise berth since the years of the old Winnipeg Jets in 1996. Overall in 429 games with the organization, Ladd was able to net 139 goals and rack up 166 assists for 309 points.

During the 2015-16 season, the Blackhawks re-acquired Ladd with the intent of another deep Stanley Cup run, but the trade ended up not working out as Chicago was swept in the opening round by the Predators. However, Ladd did have a productive finish to the season with eight goals and 12 points in 19 games.

The 2016 offseason saw Ladd agreeing to join the New York Islanders on a seven-year deal worth $38.5 million. However, his tenure with the Islanders has not been all that productive with just 39 goals and 33 assists in 181 games. This season only saw him in four games with the Islanders after he was sent down to the AHL after recovering from a torn ACL.

Aside from his leadership qualities, Ladd was a very hard player to play against night-in and night-out and has had good longevity in the league with 538 points in 950 games.

 

Edler has had a long, solid tenure in the NHL as one of the underrated two-way defensemen in the league.

The 33-year-old has spent his entire career with the Vancouver Canucks, playing in 873 games over 14 seasons. He has averaged 28.6 points per-year in the league playing consistently as a top-four defenseman on the Vancouver blue line. His best season came in the 2011-12 season when he registered career-highs in goals (11), assists (38) and points (49) in a full 82-game season. 

Edler has been banged up over the past three seasons, but has still been able to average 33.7 points. The Swedish blue liner was on pace for 40 points this season in 72 games, but never got a chance to get there due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Following last year's decent output, Edler re-signed with the Canucks on a two-year deal worth $12 million. He has one more year remaining on his contract, but he should be able to prove that he's got more longevity for years to come.

 

Goligoski has been one of the more underrated offensive defensemen in the NHL since entering the league in the 2009-10 season with the Penguins.

In his first full season, Goligoski exploded onto the scene with eight goals and 37 points in just 69 games played. He was on pace for another explosive year with the Penguins in the 2010-11 season before he was the center piece of a trade that saw him going to the Stars for forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen.

That 2010-11 season saw Goligoski combine for 46 points (14+32) in 83 games played overall.

Following that year, Goligoski went on to play five more seasons as a top-four defenseman with the Stars, playing in 362 games while scoring 27 goals and picking up 145 assists for 172 points.

Right before Goligoski was set to become a free agent in the summer of 2016, the Stars traded his rights to the Arizona Coyotes, and then went on to sign a five-year contract worth $27.375 million. In his four years in the desert, Goligoski continues to be an effective weapon from the blue line with 25 goals and 105 assists for 130 points in 306 games.

Goligoski still has plenty of gas left in the tank, and has remained relatively healthy over the course of his 13-year NHL career. As long as he continues that trend, he will continue to be a dangerous offensive threat and continue to produce points from the blue line.

 

Injuries have started to take its tole on the longevity of Dubinsky's career, but the 33-year-old was once seen as one of the toughest two-way centermen to play against in the NHL.

Dubinsky got his full-time NHL career started in the 2007-08 season with the New York Rangers, where he got in two full seasons with 27 combined goals and 81 points in 164 games. Dubinsky then went on to play in 223 out of a 246 possible games in New York, where he produced 54 goals and 78 assists for 132 points. His best season came in the 2010-11 season, where he scored a career-high 24 goals and registered a career-high 54 points in 77 games.

Just before the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, the Rangers moved Dubinsky to the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the trade that saw Rick Nash head to the Big Apple.

Since then, Dubinsky has spent the last eight seasons with the Blue Jackets, scoring 72 goals and amassing 153 assists for 225 points in 430 games. However, this season has been a rough one for the tough and rugged center because he had been forced to sit out the entire season with a wrist injury. Maybe if the season gets back underway with some regular season games, Dubinsky can get some game action in.

As long as Dubinsky can stay healthy, he will still be able to have some productivity for the next few years of his career at center.

 

After spending three years at the University of North Dakota and being part of the United States that stunned the world by winning the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship over Canada, Stafford signed his entry-level deal with the Sabres and went on to split his first professional season between the Buffalo Sabres at the NHL level and the Rochester Americans at the AHL level. His first season saw him appear in 41 games in Buffalo with 13 goals and 14 assists, and he also get the chance to be a part of the playoff team that had their magical run in 2006.

From there, Stafford was a regular in the Sabres lineup and went on to play 522 games in Buffalo while scoring 132 goals and picking 158 assists for 290 points. His career-year came in the 2010-11 season where registered his only 30-goal season (31) and picked up a career-high 52 points along the way. That year also saw him score four-hat-tricks along the way.

In the 2014-15, Stafford was traded to Winnipeg as part of the deal that landed the Sabres Evander Kane from the Jets. In parts of his three seasons with the Jets, Stafford remained relatively productive with 34 goals and 70 points in 144 games.

After a brief stint with the Bruins after the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline, Stafford went on to play two seasons with the Devils, where he scored 13 goals and registered 28 points in 116 games primarily as a depth player on their roster.

Stafford went the 2019-20 season unsigned as he tested the free agent market and only got invited to the Minnesota Wild's training camp on a professional tryout.

While the stretch of his career after the Sabres was not a notable one, Stafford was a very skilled player in parts of nine seasons with the Sabres. While he may never get another shot at playing in the NHL, watching his offensive career take off when it did was a sight to see.

 

Coming out of the ninth round of the 2004 NHL Draft as a 26-year-old, Streit ended up earning an NHL contract and earning a full-time role with the Montreal Caandiens for the 2005-06 season after years of playing professionally in Switzerland.

Streit ended up playing three seasons with the Canadiens, where he quickly became a solid an ideal scoring weapon from the point. He managed to score 25 goals and register 109 points in 205 games, including a career-high 62-point campaign (13+49) in the 2007-08 season.

From there, Streit became a free agent and signed a five-year, $20.5 million contract with the Islanders. He ended up playing out four of his five years on Long Island, registering 179 points (40+139) in 286 games. He missed the entire 2009-10 season after tearing his shoulder labrum and rotator cuff during training camp.

Streit was set to hit free agency again the 2013 offseason, but the Islanders traded his rights to the Philadelphia Flyers, and he eventually signed a four-year contract worth $21 million. He appeared in 274 games in Philadelphia, where he scored 30 goals and registered 110 assists for 140 points. His production really paid off in the first two years of the deal before age started to become a factor in Streit's decline.

At the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline, the Flyers traded Streit to the Penguins for a chance to win a Stanley Cup before he closed out his career. Though the, then, 39-year-old only appeared in three games for the Penguins, he ended up with his name on the Cup after the Penguins defeated the Predators in six games.

Streit ended up returning to Montreal for one more attempt to play in the 2017-18 season. He played two games with the Canadiens before he was sent to the Laval Rocket in the AHL. However, he refused to report to Laval and ended up having his contract terminated.

After 12 seasons in the NHL, Streit decided to retire after compiling 434 points (96+338) in 786 career games as one of the more underrated offensive defenders in his time in the NHL.

 

The Edmonton Oilers era for Dubnyk was a black eye to start his career, but his bounce back with the Minnesota Wild was what got him this high on the list.

The start to Dubnyk's career was not so bright with the Oilers, where he spent parts of five seasons and posted a 177-113-28 record, a 2.88 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and eight shutouts. His best season in Edmonton, arguably, came in the lockout-shortened season where he posted a 14-16-6 record with a 2.57 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage and two shutouts.

In his fifth season, Edmonton moved Dubnyk to the Predators, where he played in only two games and then was sent to the AHL. He was then traded again to the Canadiens, but only went to the AHL and never made an appearance.

With the label of "bust" hanging over his head in the NHL, Dubnyk finally started to turn his game around when he signed a one-year deal with the Coyotes on July 1, 2014. He started to work with goalie coach Sean Burke and it helped him start the season with a 9-5-2 record with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. However, with the Coyotes a floundering team heading towards the basement of the NHL standings, Arizona traded him to the Wild and almost immediately became their starting goaltender. The move paid off extremely well for the Wild as Dubnyk posted a 27-9-2 record with a 1.78 goals-against average, a .936 save percentage and five shutouts. It helped the Wild get into the playoffs and set themselves up for years of success in Minnesota.

Since the 2015-16 season, Dubnyk has been very stable in net for the Wild with a 150-104-26 record, a 2.50 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage and 18 shutouts. Although it has not let to much success in the playoffs, Dubnyk has consistently made the Wild a contender in the Central Division.

This year was a bit of a rough one for the 33-year-old, where he had a 12-15-2 record in 30 games played with a 3.35 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage. However, the Wild have started to rebuild its roster, and there could be a chance that Dubnyk is among those changes heading into the near future.

 

Franzen was another player from Europe that was drafted during the prime of his career at the age of 25. He'd make his debut with the Red Wings in the NHL at the age of 26 to start the 2005-06 season, where he went on to play his entire 11-year career in the NHL.

While his impact was not felt much in his rookie year, Franzen became a very dangerous player in front of the opposing team's net with his combination of size and skill in those tight areas. In the 2007-08 season, Franzen went on to score 27 goals in the regular season and added another 13 in the postseason en route to his first and only Stanley Cup championship in 2008.

The next season saw Franzen score career-highs in goals (34) and points (59), while also adding 12 more goals in the playoffs as the Red Wings returned to the Stanley Cup Final, only to lose out to the Penguins in seven games.

Following the Stanley Cup run in 2009, Franzen missed 55 games after suffering a torn ACL in his knee.

After a couple more seasons of 75-plus games being played and campaigns of 55 and 56 points, his durability started to become an issue with seasons of 41, 54 and 33 games played in the next three seasons. In 2015, Franzen was forced to miss the remainder of the season after suffering from concussion symptoms.

At the start of the 2015-16 season, Franzen played just two games only to suffer from more concussion symptoms and not play a game in the NHL since. His contract was set to expire in 2020, but has been on the Red Wings' long term injury reserve list since.

Overall, Franzen was able to score 187 goals and register 370 points in 602 career games. If he had remained healthy, there's no telling how much better his career numbers would have looked. However, he was a key piece to the Red Wings' years of success that saw them reach the playoffs time and time again.

 

Callahan was once talked about as one of the toughest, hardest-working players in the league from the right wing for several years.

The Rochester, New York native got his start with the Rangers in the 2006-07 season, but didn't earn a full-time NHL roster spot until the 2008-09 season. Once he got to the NHL level, he became a threatening two-way threat with strong, responsible play in his own end while also adding an offensive scoring touch. Between 2008 and 2013, Callahan found the back of the net 109 times and accumulated 210 points in 339 games played. His best season in New York came in the 2011-12 season where he scored a career-high 29 goals and added 25 assists for 54 points.

Callahan also served as team captain from 2011 to 2014.

During the 2013-14 season, Callahan was having another decent year when he became a piece of the trade that brought Martin St. Louis to the Rangers from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The next season, Callahan had his best year with the Lightning, where he scored 24 goals and registered a career-high 30 assists for 54 points in 77 games. He also added eight points (2+6) in 25 playoff games as Tampa Bay made its run to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Lightning ended up losing to the Blackhawks in six games.

From there, injuries started to pile up for Callahan, which limited his action throughout the next four seasons. A hip injury caused several issues, over a long period of time, while other smaller injuries forced him to miss action from time-to-time. During that time, Callahan only appeared in 210 of a possible 328 games, scoring 24 goals and registering 67 points.

Finally in the summer of 2019, it was announced that Callahan was diagnosed with a degenerative back disease, which has pretty much ended any hope of extending his career.

He was traded to the Ottawa Senators as part of a salary dump for the Lightning, but has remained on long-term injured reserve.

 

After spending three seasons at Boston College, Schneider signed his entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks and eventually got a few appearances at the NHL level in his second and third seasons of professional hockey.

After some solid seasons with the Manitoba Moose in the AHL, Schneider finally earned the backup role in Vancouver behind starting netminder Roberto Luongo. In their first year together, the two combined to win the William Jennings Trophy and help the Canucks reach the Stanley Cup Final against the Bruins in 2011. Schneider was outstanding in the backup role with a 16-4-2 record with a 2.23 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and a shutout.

Following that year, Schneider really started to show his potential as a starting goalie in the NHL and really put the Canucks in a difficult situation. In two years with the Canucks after their 2011 run to the Final, Schneider combined for a 37-17-5 record in 63 games played with a 2.04 goals-against average, a .932 save percentage and eight shutouts. At times, his play was better in goal than Luongo's, which got some fans clamoring for Schneider to be given the starting role.

However, the Canucks found themselves in a tough spot with Luongo's contract situation, having already committed long-term to the future Hall of Fame goalie and no other team willing to take his contract.

In the end, it was Schneider that was traded, being sent to the Devils in exchange for their first round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, which ended up being center Bo Horvat.

Schneider spent his first season splitting starting duties with Hall of Fame netminder Martin Brodeur before taking over the full-time starting role the next season. He ended up signing a seven-year contract with New Jersey as the Devils committed to their younger netminder over Brodeur, who left to spend a short time with the St. Louis Blues.

In his first three seasons in New Jersey, Schneider's numbers continued to look very good with a 69-71-27 record in 172 games played, a 2.14 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and 12 shutouts.

However, things have not gone so well in four seasons since then. The 34-year-old has combined for a 46-62-23 record in 139 games played with a 2.96 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage and five shutouts. He has spent some time recently with the Binghamton Devils in the AHL, while also being benched for goalies like Keith Kinkaid and MacKenzie Blackwood.

Schneider has two years remaining on his contract going forward, but his time as a starter in New Jersey may be over as Blackwood has emerged as the future of the Devils in goal. He may never get another chance like he once had ever again unless he gets back to his old form.

 

Versteeg was a well-known NHL journeyman in his 11-year career, spending time with seven different franchises.

He spent a few years in the minors trying to get to the NHL level, and eventually made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks during the 2007-08 season. After 13 games played that year, Versteeg ended up cracking a full-time NHL roster spot in Chicago, becoming a nice depth piece to a Chicago team that made it to the Western Conference Final in 2009 and won the Stanley Cup the next year. In those two seasons, Versteeg stepped up with 97 points (42+55) in 157 games, including 26 points (10+16) in 39 playoff games.

However, cap problems forced the Blackhawks to trade Versteeg to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he only played in 53 games before being traded again at the 2011 trade deadline to the Flyers. At the end of the season, he was traded again to the Florida Panthers, where he spent parts of the next three seasons in Sunrise, Florida.

Early in the 2013-14 season, the Blackhawks re-acquired Versteeg to, once again, provide some depth offensive scoring in Chicago. In parts of his two seasons in Chicago, Versteeg added 63 more points (24+39) in 124 regular season games, but only provided five points (2+3) in 27 combined playoff games. However, it resulted in another Western Conference Final appearance in 2014 and another Stanley Cup title in 2015.

For a second time in his career, the Blackhawks traded Versteeg, this time to the Hurricanes, where he spent 63 games in the 2015-16 season before being traded to the Kings for a playoff push.

At the end of the season, Versteeg got the chance to enter the free agent market and signed a two-year deal with the Calgary Flames. He played out his two years in Calgary before spending some time in the KHL, the SHL, and eventually in the Tipsport Liga in Slovakia before officially retiring on April 14, 2020.

Overall in 643 NHL games, Versteeg has scored 149 goals and registered 209 assists for a respectable 358 points. Not bad for a guy who was constantly on the move throughout his NHL career.

 

Grabovski's playing career was ended prematurely due to concussion issues, but he was a very skilled Belarussian player in his 10 seasons in the NHL.

After being drafted by the Canadiens in 2004, Grabovski eventually made his way to North America in the 2006-07 season and ended up playing in three NHL games. After a 2007-08 season of just 24 games in Montreal as primarily a depth player on the roster, Grabovski was unhappy with his role in Montreal and eventually was traded to the Maple Leafs the following summer.

Grabovski ended up finding some considerable success with the Maple Leafs in five seasons, scoring 91 goals and picking up 117 assists for 208 points in 340 games. His best season came in the 2010-11 season in Toronto, where he put up career-high totals in goals (29), assists (29) and points (58) in 81 games.

Following the lockout-shortened season in 2012-13 where Grabovski only put up 16 points (9+7) in 48 games, Grabovski was bought out and went on to sign as a free agent with the Capitals. After a solid 35-point campaign (13+22) in 58 games in Washington, the Belarussian center went on to sign a four-year contract with the Islanders.

However, Grabovksi only played two years of his four-year deal before concussion issues de-railed his career following the 2015-16 season.

Overall in 534 games, Grabovski was able to net 125 goals and put up 171 assists for 296 points. If concussion issues were not an issue later in his career, he might have gotten a chance to make more of an impact at the NHL level.

 

Soderberg never got his NHL start until he was 27-years-old when he debuted with the Bruins late in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season after his season in Sweden had ended.

However, he did earn a full-time roster spot to start the 2013-14 season, where he put up 48 points (16+32) in 73 games. After one more season with the Bruins in 2014-15, where had 44 points (13+31) in 82 games, the Bruins traded his rights to the Colorado Avalanche, where he signed a five-year, $23.75 million contract.

In four full seasons with the Avalanche, Soderberg filled his role well as a solid, two-way depth center where he combined for 57 goals and 94 assists for 151 points in 321 games. His best seasons in Colorado came in his first year, where he put up a career-high 51 points (12+39) in 82 games, and in his last year, where he netted a career-high 23 goals in 82 games.

This past offseason, Soderberg was traded to the Coyotes with one year remaining on his deal, where he had 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points in 70 games before the season was suspended indefinitely due to COVID-19.

In his 552-game NHL career, Soderberg has been very reliable and sturdy down the middle of the ice. Though his age will start to become a factor in the coming years, his durability has allowed him to sustain his level of play.

 

Brouwer has been a very solid, two-way depth player for several years in the NHL, and is a player that can certainly jump up into a top-six role to fill in offensively when called upon.

The 34-year-old has played a total of 14 seasons in the NHL, getting his start in the Blackhawks organization with his NHL debut in the 2006-07 season. After a total of 12 NHL games played between 2006 and 2008, Brouwer earned a full-time spot in Chicago for the 2008-09 season, where he had 26 points (10+16) in 69 games. The next season saw Brouwer play 78 games in Chicago, where he scored 22 goals and accounted for 40 points in the regular season, followed by eight points (4+4) in 19 playoff games and a Stanley Cup championship in 2010.

After another solid campaign in 2010-11, the Blackhawks traded Brouwer to the Capitals in exchange for a first round pick in the 2011 NHL Draft. In the four following years in Washington, Brouwer continued to play some solid and durable hockey with 83 goals and 69 assists for 152 points in 293 of a possible 294 games. He put up back-to-back 43-point seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15, where he scored a career-high 25 goals for the Capitals in the 2013-14 campaign.

In the summer of 2015, Brouwer was part of a trade that sent him to the Blues in exchange for forward T.J. Oshie. His one season in St. Louis was a productive one, where he scored 18 goals and added 21 points for 39 points in 82 games. In the playoffs, he scored eight goals and had 13 points in 20 games as the Blues went as far as the Western Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks.

In the following years, Brouwer's production has dipped, but he continued to find roles on teams like the Flames, Panthers, and then with the Blues again this season. However, to produce 363 points (182+181) in 851 games in the NHL is very respectable.

 

Although his development at the NHL level came a little bit later in his career, Greiss has developed into a very suitable netminder who has had the capabilities of becoming a starter in the NHL.

The German-born netminder came to North America in the 2006-07 season, and eventually made his NHL debut the next year with the Sharks. In his seven crazy years with the Sharks, Griess was up and down between the NHL and AHL, while also spending a complete year in the SHL due to the lack of playing time in San Jose.

When he had the chance to become a free agent in 2013, he signed a one-year deal with the Coyotes, where he fared pretty well with a 10-8-5 record with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. The next offseason, Greiss ended up signing with the Penguins, where he ended up backing up Marc-Andre Fleury.

The next year saw Greiss signing in free agency with the Islanders, where he stepped up his play in 41 games played with a 23-11-4 record, a 2.36 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. He ended up becoming that starting netminder on Long Island in 2016-17, where he appeared in 51 games with a 26-18-5 record, a 2.96 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and three shutouts.

That performance earned him a three-year extension with the Islanders, where he has been up-and-down throughout the length of that deal. In 101 games played, Greiss has posted a 52-31-8 record with a 2.84 goals-against average, a .912 save percentage and six shutouts.

With Semyon Varlamov in the picture for the Islanders, it may be hard to Greiss to earn another contract on Long Island heading into the 2020-21 season. However, he probably will find another job somewhere, very capable of filling in the net and being a reliable goaltender.

 

Hansen had a productive 11 years in the NHL playing most of his career with the Canucks.

The native of Rødovre, Denmark made his NHL debut in the 2007 playoffs, when he appeared in 10 playoff games with the Canucks, registering an assist. After another season mostly spent in the AHL with Manitoba, Hansen found a regular spot in the lineup during the 2008-09 season, where he appeared in 55 games and posted 21 points (6+15) for Vancouver.

Over the course of the next seven seasons, Hansen was able to produce 201 points (93+108) in 477 regular season games. In the playoffs, Hansen has registered 17 points (7+10) in 52 games, which included a Stanley Cup run in 2011 against the Bruins. His best season in Vancouver was back in the 2011-12 season, where he registered a career-high 39 points (16+23) in 82 games. In his last full season with the Canucks during the 2016-17 campaign, Hansen scored a career-high 22 goals in 67 games.

Hansen's tenure in Vancouver came to an end in 2017 when he was traded at the trade deadline to the Sharks. However, that tenure only lasted 61 regular season games in parts of two seasons, where he scored just four goals and picked up just 21 points.

His 109 goals and 256 career points in 626 games may not be all that much, but he was able to serve nicely as a good depth piece on the wing who can provide an uptick in offense and slot in to a top-six role when needed.

 

Like many players near the bottom of this list, Comeau is another player who has had nice longevity to their career while carving out a solid role for themselves in the bottom six of an NHL lineup.

The 34-year-old got his professional career started back in the 2005-06 season in the AHL when his junior season in Kelowna was over. He then made his NHL debut the next season with the Islanders, where he appeared in three games in the 2006-07 season. Comeau then spent just over half of the next season with the Islanders, followed by a season mostly spent on Long Island before finally cracking the full-time NHL lineup in the the 2009-10 season.

In parts of six seasons with the Islanders, Comeau scored 56 goals and accumulated 65 assists for 121 points in 261 games. His best season to date came in his last full year on Long Island, where he set career-high marks for goals (24) and points (46).

However, Comeau started to struggle the next season and failed to produce offensively in his first 16 games of the season. The Islanders decided to waive Comeau, only to see him get claimed by the Flames. In Calgary, Comeau went on to spend parts of two seasons there where he scored just nine goals and picked up 13 assists for 22 points in 91 games.

In the lockout-shortened season, the Flames traded Comeau to the Blue Jackets, where he spent parts of the next two seasons in Columbus. After one full season in Pittsburgh, Comeau seemed to find his game again when he signed on with the Colorado Avalanche in 2015. In his first season in Denver, Comeau scored 12 goals, while registering a career-high 24 assists in 81 games. In three years with the Avalanche, Comeau did fairly well for himself with 90 points (33+57) in 237 games.

The past two seasons has seen Comeau in Dallas with the Stars, where he's been on a bottom-six role with just 34 points (15+19) in 132 games.

 

Shortly after being drafted by the Sabres in 2004, Sekera made the jump to North America and learned the style of play here while with the Owen Sound Attack in the Ontario Hockey League. After two years in the OHL, Sekera made the jump to professional hockey, where he started out with Rochester in the 2006-07 season. Sekera made an appearance in two games with the Sabres that season, and ended up splitting time between the Sabres and Amerks in the 2007-08 season.

Finally, Sekera ended up making the full-time jump to the NHL in 2008 and became a solid decent puck moving defenseman in Buffalo. Over the course of the next five seasons, Sekera played 300 games with the Sabres, scoring 15 goals and registering 84 points .

The Sabres ended up trading Sekera to the Hurricanes after the lockout-shortened season, where he put up his best statistical season to date with career-highs in goals (11), assists (33) and points (44). With his contract expiring towards the end of the 2014-15 season, the Hurricanes traded the defenseman to the Kings at the NHL Trade Deadline. However, he ended up flopping for the Kings with just a goal and three assists in 16 games.

Then in free agency that summer, Sekera cashed in big time with a six-year, $33 million contract with the Oilers. The first two years of the contract looked promising for Edmonton as he registered 65 points (14+51) from the blue line in 161 games. However, Sekera ended up tearing his ACL in the 2017 playoffs, which was followed by an Achilles tendon injury that limited him to just 36 games in the 2017-18 season. After another season riddled with injuries and poor play, the Oilers bought out the remaining two years of his contract and allowed him to become a free agent.

Sekera was given another opportunity to rebound with the Stars this season, where through 57 games he had two goals and six assists for eight points.

If Sekera can be able to stay healthy and get back to the level of play he was at in his early days in Edmonton and with Carolina, he may be able to make it a few years more in the NHL. However, that doesn't look like a promising route for the 33-year-old.

 

It's hard to think about what could have been with Booth if he had not dealt with some concussion issues during his playing days in the NHL.

After splitting his rookie season in professional hockey between the NHL and the AHL, he earned a full-time roster spot with the Panthers in the 2007-08 season and scored 22 goals and picked up 18 assists for 40 points. That season, he suffered his first concussion that forced him to miss nine games.

The 2008-09 season was his breakout year in Florida, where he put up career-highs in goals (31), assists (29) and points (60) in 72 games played.

However, the crushing blow to the future of his career came early in the 2009-10 season when he took a vicious hit from Flyers forward Mike Richards that left him unconscious on the ice, and needing to be taken off the ice on a stretcher with another concussion. Later in the season, he suffered another concussion that forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

The good news is that Booth returned the following season and managed to stay healthy, playing in all 82 games while scoring 23 goals and registering 40 points.

After being traded to the Canucks early the next season, Booth's production started to drop off drastically. He was able to register 29 points (16+13) in his 56 games with the Canucks, but only went on to score a total of 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points in 165 games with the Canucks, Maple Leafs and Red Wings.

He has also spent time playing in the KHL going from organization to organization, and is currently still playing in Norway.

There was a good chance that Booth could have been higher on this list if he had managed to stay healthier during the duration of his NHL career.

 

Wolski managed to have a decent NHL career, despite only playing in 451 games over the course of eight years.

The original first round pick of the Avalanche appeared in nine games in the 2005-06 season before being sent back to the Brampton Battalion in the OHL for his fourth and final season. He even then returned to the Avalanche for their playoff run in 2006, playing in eight games.

Wolski was undoubtedly an NHLer to start the next season, where he went on to put up 50 points (22+28) in his rookie year. The winger then went on to put up a couple more productive years in Colorado, scoring 32 goals and piling up 58 assists for 90 points in 155 games.

During the 2009-10 season, Wolski was on pace for a career-year with the Avalanche with 47 points (17+30) in 62 games. However, the Avalanche moved Wolski to the Coyotes as part of a deal to acquire Peter Mueller. He finished out his season in Phoenix by scoring 18 points (6+12) in the remaining 18 games.

However, his scoring pace started to decline fast following that season, and eventually got traded from the Coyotes to the Rangers. He ended his 2010-11 season combining for 12 goals and 35 points in 73 games played.

Wolski's production dropped again int he 2011-12 campaign, and was traded again to the Panthers before finishing up his NHL career in the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season with the Capitals.

Since then, Wolski has played mostly in the KHL from place-to-place before playing this season in the Czech professional league before the coronavirus stoppage.

Overall, Wolski finished his NHL career with 99 goals and 168 assists for 267 points.

 

Winnik really had to earn his way to the NHL and be able to sustain his role in the league for a while, and he managed to make it 11 seasons as a solid, shutdown player who served a key role in the bottom-six and on the penalty kill.

After spending the entire 2006-07 season in the minors grooming his game, he made the Coyotes roster from the start of the 2007-08 season and managed 26 points (11+15) in 79 games played. After a couple of down years with the Coyotes, Winnik was traded to the Avalanche, where he managed to put up another 26-point season (11+15) in 2010-11. The Avalanche ended up trading Winnik at the 2012 Trade Deadline to the Sharks, but things never really clicked for him in San Jose in his short 21-game stint.

From there, Winnik signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks, where he had a productive two years with 12 goals and 37 assists for 49 points in 124 games played.

Winnik ended up signing with his hometown Maple Leafs in both the 2014 and 2015 offseasons, but during both seasons he was traded at the deadline to contending teams in the playoff hunt.

In his final two seasons in the league with the Capitals and the Wild, Winnik combined for 18 goals and 30 assists for 48 points in 158 games, but ended up going unsigned in the summer of 2018 and decided to sign in Switzerland.

Winnik finished his NHL career with 251 points (82+169) in 798 games, which was not bad for the type of player he was in the league.

 

Polak is maybe the second-best Czech player to come out of the 2004 NHL Draft, that saw 21 players being selected in the nine-round draft.

His style of play is a bit old school in the NHL as he has been a solid shutdown defenseman on the blue line for years with teams like the Blues, Maple Leafs, Sharks and Stars.

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound defenseman made his NHL debut in the 2006-07 season, playing in 19 games with the Blues in his first professional year of hockey. After another season mostly spent in the AHL, Polak cracked the NHL lineup full-time in the 2008-09 season and went on to spend the next six seasons in St. Louis with 78 points (13+65) in 399 games.

During the 2014 offseason, Polak ended up being moved to the Maple Leafs, where he has spent parts of four seasons in two separate stints in Toronto. He managed to put up 45 points (12+33) in 240 games, including a season where he scored a career-high five goals in 2014-15.

Over the past two seasons, Polak has served as a bottom-pair defenseman with the Stars, playing in just 118 games with one goal and 12 assists to make up for it.