Before Kevin Lowe ignited an epic public feud with Brian Burke by signing restricted free agent Dustin Penner in the summer of 2007, the Oilers general manager had his eyes on a much larger prize -- Buffalo Sabres restricted free agent Thomas Vanek. In early July, 2007, the Oilers signed the 23-year-old Vanek to a seven-year, $50 million offer sheet. Had Buffalo refused to match the offer, it would have received four first-round picks as compensation. Tempting. But not tempting enough.
If you're searching for a goaltender in the NHL Draft, best of luck to you. It's considered the toughest position to scout, mainly because the prospects take longer to develop than any other position. One of the team's that's managed to have some success developing goalies is the San Jose Sharks, having produced Evgeni Nabokov, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Vesa Toskala. Even better, according to Hockey's Future, four of their top-10 prospects are goaltenders. How have they done it? Shopping in bulk, of course.
Prior to Daniel Alfredsson's arrival in Ottawa, the Senators were a laughing stock in the NHL, winning just 33 of their first 216 games. It was the worst record after three seasons for any expansion team in league history, and it almost seems impossible to lose that many games. Such is life when Norm Maciver is your leading scorer.
While first-round picks Alexei Yashin, Alexandre Daigle and Radek Bonk were disappointments for one reason or another, it was Alfredsson, a sixth-round pick in 1994, that proved to be the cornerstone of the team.
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 33 is New York Rangers forward Marian Gaborik.
You can't blame the New York Rangers for having an interest in free agent forward Marian Gaborik this offseason. A team that was lacking the offensive firepower it never replaced when Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka left the Big Apple a year ago, the Rangers signed Gaborik to a five-year, $37.5 million contract on July 2, 2009. It's a couple of big numbers for a guy that has quite a lengthy track record of injuries.
We know Gaborik can play, but how much will he play? That's the question that will determine whether this signing will be remembered as a turning point for the Rangers franchise, or simply another mistake in a long line of free agency futility.
Alexei Yashin's career in Ottawa may have been tumultuous and relatively disappointing, and he may be one of the most loathed figures associated with Ottawa sports, but he did give Senators fans this: it's because of him, and the maniacal dealings of a former New York Islanders general manager, that the Senators now have one of the game's top play-making centers.
During the 2001 NHL draft, Islanders general manager Mike Milbury, making bold trades for the sake of making bold trades, parted ways with up-and-coming defenseman Zdeno Chara, forward Bill Muckalt, and the No. 2 overall pick to acquire the moody Yashin, and then signed him to an outrageous 10-year contract extension (the Islanders are still paying him today). The No. 2 pick that year? Jason Spezza.
As I mentioned last week when discussing Nashville defenseman Shea Weber, the 2003 NHL draft produced more front-line talent than any class in recent memory. One of the teams that benefited the most is the Philadelphia Flyers. Thanks to their own first-round picks (No's 11 and 24) the Flyers came away with a pair of top centers in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, and later the No. 7 overall pick, Braydon Coburn, in a one-sided trade (for Alexei Zhitnik!)with the Atlanta Thrashers. Six years later, Philadelphia has one of the best 1-2 punches in the league down the middle.
There were rumors swirling at last year's trade deadline that involved the Flyers reportedly sending Carter (and a first-round pick) to the Toronto Maple Leafs for puck-moving defenseman Tomas Kaberle. As good as Kaberle is, consider this an example of the best trades sometimes being the ones you never make.
After spending his first six seasons in Florida, Jay Bouwmeester moved on to Calgary this offseason, signing a five-year, $33 million contract after his rights were traded for defenseman Jordan Leopold and a third-round pick. Would Florida have received more for Bouwmeester at the NHL's trade deadline? Probably, yes. But, as I've argued in this space many times since then, Florida still made the right decision, even though it lost its best player, and didn't have a trip to the playoffs to show for it.
One of only four players born in Yugoslavia to play in the NHL (Ivan Boldirev, Goran Bezina, and Stan Smrke being the others), Anze Kopitar is the foundation of the Los Angeles Kings' rebuilding efforts. A team that hasn't made the playoffs in six years, the Kings have had a relatively busy offseason, adding defenseman Rob Scuderi and winger Ryan Smyth to a young, talented lineup that already features Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson.
Including a player in the top-40 that has never tallied 60 points in a single season is likely to cause some confusion -- and angry fist shaking -- among fans outside the Motor City. But over the past two seasons there haven't been many goal-scorers better than the man known as "The Mule."
When I first started this series on Sunday, one of the things I mentioned is that these types of rankings are always filled with subjectivity and personal opinion. That's just unavoidable when attempting to tackle a project like this. Your own feelings will get involved, and there's not an absolute, 100 percent accurate way to rank players and get an end-all and be-all order. It's certainly open to debate. And as I pointed out in the Scott Niedermayer comments on Wednesday, I had a difficult time arguing with myself over some of the rankings and players involved.
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 30 is Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek. 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
