Fansided

Coming Home: 5 players who returned to home NHL team

By Aryssah Stankevitsch

Mar 6, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Former Boston Bruins Mark Recchi high-fives defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) prior to the game against the Washington Capitals at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Former Boston Bruins Mark Recchi high-fives defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) prior to the game against the Washington Capitals at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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With LeBron James returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, what are his chances of being as successful as before? James spent seven years with the Cavs, where he had some of his best seasons for personal statistics – in 2005-2006, he averaged 31.4 points per game, and in 2009-2010 he averaged 8.6 assists per game. Are these personal records breakable? Heck yes.

To reinforce that James could become better than his previous tenure, I wanted to explore some NHL equivalents. Now by no means are these players of the same caliber as LeBron in the NBA (well, maybe one), but here are a few NHLers that returned to the same team later on in their career  (more than twice) – either to fly or flounder. Others have honourable mentions (Marc Bergevin, Nolan Baumgartner, even Patrick Traverse who was traded for Eric Weinrich between Montreal and Boston – twice, on the same day, a year later) but either played in the AHL too, or didn’t spend full seasons returning to their teams.

Mark Recchi

Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1988, he steadily grew to be a force to be reckoned with in his four seasons with the Pens, moving from 2 points, to 67, to 113, to 70. That 70 easily could have grown, had he not been traded across the state to the Flyers that year. Recchi even was part of the cup winning team in Pittsburgh in 1991. After playing in Montreal for a few years, he was traded back to Philly (his second round), but then signed as a free agent with the Penguins in 2004, scoring 57 points in 63 games that season. Following a trade to Carolina (and another cup win in 2006), Recchi once more signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh. His first season back, he scored 68 points, but followed up with a disappointing second season. That year, he was claimed of waivers by Atlanta. After three stints with the Penguins, and a third cup win in Boston in 2011, Recchi retired.

Yanic Perreault

One of the best faceoff specialists, Perreault was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991, but was traded to the LA Kings in 1994, going on to replace Wayne Gretzky at centre (not that anyone can really do that). The Kings traded him back to the Leafs in 1999 where he stayed until 2001, even reaching 24 goals in one of those seasons. After a few other locations, Phoenix traded him back to the Leafs in 2007 where he played a final 17 games (with five points) for the blue and white. He retired after three Toronto transactions, in 2008 with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Vaclav Prospal

Mar 6, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Former Boston Bruins winger Mark Recchi waves to the crowd before the start of a game against the Washington Capitals at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Former Boston Bruins winger Mark Recchi waves to the crowd before the start of a game against the Washington Capitals at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /

Prospal retired from hockey this year, but was drafted originally by the Flyers in 1993 (who he also played for two different times throughout his career). From 2001-2003, Prospal had 55 point and 79 point campaigns in Tampa Bay with the Lightning. Though after those two seasons, he signed with Anaheim; the Ducks traded him back to Tampa in 2005 where he stayed until 2008. His point production decreased however, from 55 to 41 to 28 in those three years. Propsal played one last time for the Lightning in 2008-2009, scoring 45 points.

Chris Gratton

Tampa Bay must be a nice place to return to for hockey players. Another draft pick from 1993, Gratton’s first four seasons were for the Lightning, scoring 42, 27, 38, and 62 points – reaching the 30 goal mark in the latter. After those four years, Gratton signed with Philadelphia, but was traded back to Tampa for two more seasons (scoring 26 points and 41 points). The Lightning then traded him to Buffalo in 2001, where he stayed a few years, and bounced to a few more teams. Gratton landed in Tampa for a final time from 2007-2009, scoring a sad 23 points in two years. Tampa placed him on waivers at that point.

Peter Forsberg

The LeBron of Swedish hockey. Maybe.

Drafted sixth overall in 1991, Forsberg played for the Colorado Avalanche three times throughout his amazing career. His first stint (including a year with Quebec before the team was relocated) was for nine years up until the 2004 lockout. During this time, Forsberg won the Calder, the Art Ross, and the Hart. Oh, and two cups. He scored 741 points in 580 games; Forsberg still stands at a 1.25 point per game average for his career. After the lockout, Foppa went to Philly and Nashville, but then signed back with the Avalanche as a free agent in 2008, scoring 14 points in nine games. Returning home to Sweden following that, Forsberg played for Modo for a couple of years, then came back to the Avs for two games in 2011, only to retire.

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