2. Alexi Yashin To The Islanders
Many hockey fans are familiar with NBC’s Mike Milbury. He’s that guy who makes you mute your television during intermissions. But what newer hockey fans might not know is Milbury used to be the general manager of the New York Islanders.
There were a lot of dark times during his tenure in the Isles’ front office. But one trade sums up Milbury’s horrible, terrible, no good tenure with the Islanders. He traded for Alexei Yashin of the Ottawa Senators. In exchange, he gave up defenseman Zdeno Chara, forward Bill Muckalt and the second overall draft selection in the 2001 NHL Draft, which turned out to be Jason Spezza.
Milbury gave Yashin the long-term deal he wanted, signing him for 10 years and $87.5 million. This contract was later bought out in 2007. As a part of the buyout, the Islanders paid Yashin $2.204 million per year from 2007-08 to 2014-15.
He didn’t do well with the Islanders. In his last year with the Senators, he put up 88 points. Yashin never bested that total with the Islanders in a single season. Milbury gave up a future Hall of Fame defenseman (Chara) and an underrated center who was deadly in his prime (Spezza) for someone who eventually got bought out. Now you all know why he’s an analyst and not a general manager.