Kyle Dubas doesn't feel he owes anybody an apology for the Toronto Maple Leafs' unparalleled financial flexibility.

Toronto's general manager defended his team's ability to use signing bonuses to its advantage Friday while noting that teams in Florida and Texas have their own advantages in free agency due to the lack of income tax owed in those states.

"We're pretty fortunate in terms of the revenue that we're able to draw in," he told Sportsnet's Chris Johnston. "So I think for us to sit back and have the taxation argument used against us, but then not to be able to use any advantages that we have would be foolish on our part.

"I hear people bicker about it and make comments about it, but other teams aren't apologizing for using taxation or cost of living to aid their argument. So I don't think we should apologize either. And we won't."

Despite limited cap space amid Mitch Marner's ongoing negotiations, the Leafs were able to get both Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson signed to extensions Friday. Both deals included significant signing bonuses relative to actual salaries, an arrangement fully allowed under the CBA.

"For us, we get it used against us a lot - like the taxation part of it: 'If you play elsewhere, you play in the lower tax bracket.'" Dubas said. "Other teams use that. We're fortunate here because of our fanbase and because of the coverage and because of our corporate partners."

The Leafs constructed contracts in this fashion when Lou Lamoriello was the team's general manager, but Dubas has escalated the practice, most notably using it with superstars Auston Matthews and John Tavares, who will both see more than 90 percent of their contracts' total values paid in bonuses.

Forbes ranked the Leafs second on its 2018 list of the NHL's most valuable franchises, estimating the club's worth at $1.45 billion.

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Patrick Marleau insisted Friday he doesn't plan to hang up his skates anytime soon, while also confirming he'd welcome a reunion with the San Jose Sharks.

"Yeah, it would be nice to come back here and play where I started," the free-agent forward told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "It would be a good fit for me for sure."

The feeling would obviously have to be mutual, and Marleau knows he might have to wait to see how the Sharks resolve their other free-agent priorities.

"It might take a bit longer, I'm not sure," he said. "I know they have some things that they're juggling around. We'll see how it goes."

Marleau, who'll turn 40 in September, made it clear he doesn't want to call it a career just yet and is open to playing for other clubs.

"I'm definitely not ready to retire, I think I've got some really good hockey left in me," he said. "I couldn't give you an exact number of years but it's going to be more than one, I know that."

The veteran added that finding a team out West would be ideal for his family, which has moved back into the home it kept in San Jose, Calif., during his Sharks tenure.

The Sharks have plenty of other players to deal with ahead of the start of free agency, including pending unrestricted free agent and team captain Joe Pavelski, pending UFA Joe Thornton - who turns 40 on July 2 - and pending restricted free agent forward Timo Meier.

Marleau spent 19 seasons with the Sharks before playing the last two campaigns with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes on Day 2 of the draft last weekend. The Hurricanes bought out the final year of his contract Thursday.

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The Vegas Golden Knights are dealing defenseman Colin Miller to the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round pick in 2021 and a fifth-rounder in 2022, TSN's Bob McKenzie reports.

More to come.

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Andre Burakovsky is getting a fresh start in the Mile High City.

The Washington Capitals traded the forward to the Colorado Avalanche for a second-round pick, a third-round selection, and Scott Kosmachuk, the team announced Friday.

Burakovsky fell out of favor in Washington. His ice time dipped to a career-low 11:08 per game this past season and he was rumored to be on the move leading up to the 2019 trade deadline.

It was reported in January that Washington set the asking price for Burakovsky at multiple mid-to-high-round picks.

The 24-year-old winger tallied 12 goals and 13 assists in 76 games during the 2018-19 campaign. His 0.33 points per game marked the lowest of his five-year career. He offers a rare combination of size (6-foot-3), speed, and skill, but was plagued by inconsistency and eventually passed by Jakub Vrana on the club's depth chart at left wing.

Burakovsky is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and has two more years of club control before he becomes a UFA, according to CapFriendly. He earned $3 million per year on his previous contract.

The third-round selection heading to Washington was originally owned by the Arizona Coyotes but was acquired by the Avalanche in the Carl Soderberg trade on Tuesday.

Kosmachuk, a journeyman minor-leaguer, is a pending UFA.

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Below, we rank the top 25 unrestricted free agents set to hit the open market on July 1.

xGF% = the percentage of expected goals a team generated while the player was on the ice at five-on-five

25. Tyler Ennis

Position: LW/RW
Age on Oct. 1: 29
2018-19 cap hit: $650K
2018-19 team: Maple Leafs

Ennis' promising career was derailed by a series of concussions and groin injuries after back-to-back 20-goal seasons from 2013 to 2015. He missed some time with a broken ankle during the 2018-19 season, but otherwise showed no lingering effects of his prior ailments, displaying the same quick first step and soft hands he showed in his early days with the Sabres. The shifty 5-foot-9 forward was stuck on Toronto's fourth line last season but ranked fifth in the league in goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five.

24. Jordie Benn

Position: LD
Age on Oct. 1: 32
2018-19 cap hit: $1.1M
2018-19 team: Canadiens

Benn is coming off a season that should please both old-school hockey people and new-school thinkers. The Habs generated 54 percent of the shot attempts (CF%) while Benn was on the ice at five-on-five. He managed to drive possession despite starting more shifts in the defensive zone than the offensive end. Benn also brings sandpaper and physicality that coaches love. He's a solid third-pairing defenseman for just about any team.

23. Wayne Simmonds

Position: RW
Age on Oct. 1: 31
2018-19 cap hit: $3.975M
2018-19 team: Flyers/Predators

Simmonds is coming off his worst offensive season since 2010-11. Having played a crash-and-bang style for his entire career, it's understandable why some may believe Simmonds won't age as well as other 31-year-olds. Look for him to sign a short-term deal in order to restore his value.

22. Brandon Tanev

Position: LW/RW
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $1.15M
2018-19 team: Jets

Every team could use a player like Tanev. He's fast and he isn't afraid to throw his weight around. He can also kill penalties, play in a shutdown role, and chip in offensively. As one of the younger UFAs, he'll likely look to cash in on a long-term deal. Buyer beware, though: Consistent offensive production year in and year out is far from guaranteed, and his fearless style of play could eventually take its toll on his slight frame.

21. Corey Perry

Position: RW
Age on Oct. 1: 34
2018-19 cap hit: $8.625M
2018-19 team: Ducks

What does Perry have left in the tank? He missed the first four months of the 2018-19 season recovering from knee surgery and never quite hit his stride when he returned. As a former Hart Trophy winner and member of the Triple Gold Club, Perry is as decorated as any free agent. He'll find at least a handful of teams willing to hand him a bonus-laden one-year deal, and in the right situation, it wouldn't be surprising if he produced 20 goals again.

20. Brett Connolly

Position: RW
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $1.5M
2018-19 team: Capitals

Connolly is coming off a career year, which always makes signing a player a risky endeavor. He's also a below-average skater, which raises some red flags. However, he was one of the most efficient offensive players in the league last season, finishing 16th in both goals and points per 60 minutes at five-on-five, suggesting he could excel with more ice time.

19. Semyon Varlamov

Position: G
Age on Oct. 1: 31
2018-19 cap hit: $5.9M
2018-19 team: Avalanche

On the heels of a stellar 2017-18 campaign, Varlamov seemed poised for a big payday with a .930 save percentage in his first 18 games last season. Then he was miserable down the stretch, eventually giving way to Philipp Grubauer in Colorado's crease. A return to the Mile High City seems unlikely, so Varlamov will probably have to settle for a stopgap gig.

18. Joonas Donskoi

Position: RW
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $1.9M
2018-19 team: Sharks

Donskoi was relegated to fourth-line duty down the stretch in San Jose last season thanks to the emergence of Kevin Labanc and the deadline acquisition of Gustav Nyquist. A fresh start seems like a given for Donskoi, who has the potential to excel with a team that can give him a greater role. His age and offensive upside are appealing.

17. Micheal Ferland

Position: LW
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $1.75M
2018-19 team: Hurricanes

Had Ferland not missed 11 games this season, he likely would have hit the 20-goal mark for the second consecutive campaign. Impressive, considering he's a 217-pound bowling ball and one of the game's best forecheckers. His career longevity may not be great given his style of play, but whether it be in a first-line role or third-line role, he could help just about every team in the short term. The issue is it'll likely require a long-term pact to sign him.

16. Justin Williams

Position: RW
Age on Oct. 1: 37
2018-19 cap hit: $4.5M
2018-19 team: Hurricanes

Williams has already stated that if he does return for a 19th NHL season, it'll likely be in Carolina, but he's included in this list as a formality. The veteran can still play - his 23 goals last season marked his highest total since he was 25 years old. If he did entertain offers from other teams, there'd be no shortage of clubs interested in his leadership.

15. Joe Thornton

Position: C
Age on Oct. 1: 40
2018-19 cap hit: $5M
2018-19 team: Sharks

Thornton isn't going anywhere. He already announced he's returning for another season, adding that "it's safe to say I'm a Shark." Jumbo Joe is still effective, too. He produced offensively both at even strength and on the power play despite seeing his lowest ice time since he was a 19-year-old with the Boston Bruins.

14. Anton Stralman

Position: RD
Age on Oct. 1: 33
2018-19 cap hit: $4.5M
2018-19 team: Lightning

As one of the few right-handed defensemen on the open market, Stralman will be a hot commodity. He's no longer the offensive threat he once was but remains a sturdy veteran presence who can make a good first pass. His possession numbers took a hit for the first time last year, which could hint that a decline isn't far off.

13. Petr Mrazek

Position: G
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $1.5M
2018-19 team: Hurricanes

Mrazek played himself into a nice payday on a one-year prove-it deal with the Hurricanes after he was non-tendered by the Detroit Red Wings. His age and talent are tantalizing for teams seeking a No. 1 goalie, but given his inconsistent past, he may be best utilized in a 50-50 platoon situation.

12. Marcus Johansson

Position: LW
Age on Oct. 1: 28
2018-19 cap hit: $4.583M
2018-19 team: Devils/Bruins

When healthy, Johansson is a very effective middle-six forward. Though injuries have held him to just 87 games over the last two seasons, in 2016-17 - the last time he played 82 games - he racked up a career-high 58 points. In the right situation, it's possible that he could return to that form, but worries about his durability may scare some teams off.

11. Ryan Dzingel

Position: LW
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $1.8M
2018-19 team: Senators/Blue Jackets

Dzingel is coming off a career year, but there's some cause for concern. He scored 22 goals in 57 games with the Senators while being featured in a top-line role, then tallied just five goals (including playoffs) in 30 games with the Blue Jackets. With his age and offensive potential, he won't struggle to find a long-term deal, but which Dzingel are teams getting?

10. Gustav Nyquist

Position: LW/RW
Age on Oct. 1: 30
2018-19 cap hit: $4.75M
2018-19 team: Red Wings/Sharks

After failing to reach the 50-point mark in the three seasons prior to last year, Nyquist put himself in line for a nice payday. More a playmaker than a goal-scorer, the Swede will likely be paid like a top-six forward, even though he hasn't shown the year-to-year consistency to warrant such title.

9. Anders Lee

Position: LW
Age on Oct. 1: 29
2018-19 cap hit: $3.75M
2018-19 team: Islanders

Over the last three seasons, Lee ranks 13th in the league with 102 goals - one more than Jeff Skinner, who recently inked an eight-year, $72-million extension. Goal-scoring comes at a premium in the NHL, and Lee will probably be paid accordingly. Though he did regress slightly this past season, he proved his success wasn't simply a byproduct of being John Tavares' linemate.

8. Mats Zuccarello

Position: LW/RW
Age on Oct. 1: 32
2018-19 cap hit: $4.5M
2018-19 team: Rangers/Stars

Zuccarello might be one of the most underrated players in the game. He's incredibly smart, has outstanding vision, and despite using an abnormally long stick, he has great hands. He can seemingly mesh with any linemate and would be an excellent addition for a contending team.

7. Tyler Myers

Position: RD
Age on Oct. 1: 29
2018-19 cap hit: $5.5M
2018-19 team: Jets

Myers is one of the most intriguing free agents on the market. Not only is he the top right-handed defenseman available, but he offers a tantalizing combination of size (6-foot-8) and skating ability. It's difficult to envision him drastically improving this late in his career, but he could thrive in a larger role after playing primarily sheltered minutes in Winnipeg.

6. Jake Gardiner

Position: LD
Age on Oct. 1: 29
2018-19 cap hit: $4.05M
2018-19 team: Maple Leafs

Gardiner took a lot of flak during his time in Toronto despite excelling in a top-four role while dragging around lackluster defense partners. After playing at least 79 games in five straight seasons, a back injury forced Gardiner to miss 30 games down the stretch, and he wasn't quite the same when he returned for the playoffs. This could scare some teams off, but as the best blue-liner available, a large payday is inevitable for this elite skater.

5. Joe Pavelski

Position: C/RW
Age on Oct. 1: 35
2018-19 cap hit: $6M
2018-19 team: Sharks

Pavelski appeared to be on the decline entering 2018-19, but he showed Father Time he still had plenty left in the tank. However, a career-high 20.2 shooting percentage (8.3 percent higher than his career mark before 2018-19) was a big factor in his bounce-back season. He's still one of the league's best deflection artists, but a lot of risk would come with a multi-year deal.

4. Robin Lehner

Position: G
Age on Oct. 1: 28
2018-19 cap hit: $1.5M
2018-19 team: Islanders

Lehner has always been extremely talented, and now that he's gotten himself right off the ice, it's easy to be convinced that his remarkable 2018-19 season was no fluke. He said he has "no plans" to speak to teams besides the Islanders, but a conflicting report suggests the two sides aren't close to a deal and his days with the franchise are over. If he does hit the open market, goalie-needy teams will line up for his services.

3. Sergei Bobrovsky

Position: G
Age on Oct. 1: 31
2018-19 cap hit: $7.425M
2018-19 team: Blue Jackets

Whichever team signs Bobrovsky to a mammoth extension will regret it eventually, but in the short term, he'll improve any team's Stanley Cup prospects. After a slow start last year, he got red-hot down the stretch, and he silenced his postseason critics with a .925 save percentage in 10 games. When he's on, there may be no better goalie in the world.

2. Matt Duchene

Position: C
Age on Oct. 1: 28
2018-19 cap hit: $6M
2018-19 team: Senators/Blue Jackets

Premier centers are always in demand in the NHL. Whether Duchene belongs in the "premier" category or not is up for debate, but as the top pivot available, he's going to get paid handsomely. Duchene was on pace to shatter his career high in points before the trade to Columbus, where his regular-season production faltered before a stellar playoff run with 10 points in as many games.

1. Artemi Panarin

Position: LW
Age on Oct. 1: 27
2018-19 cap hit: $6M
2018-19 team: Blue Jackets

Since entering the league in 2015-16, Panarin has missed just six games and ranks eighth in the NHL with 320 points. He's one of the game's most talented players and a true difference-maker offensively. If a bidding war ensues, he could become of one of the 5-10 highest-paid players in the league.

(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)
(Salary information courtesy: CapFriendly)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson to three- and four-year contract extensions, respectively, the team announced Friday.

The deals were reportedly close to complete during the draft. Kapanen's contract carries an average annual value of $3.2 million while Johnsson will earn $3.4 million per season.

Both players were key contributors to the Maple Leafs' offense during their first full seasons in 2018-19, as Kapanen finished the campaign with 44 points in 78 games and Johnsson notched 43 in 73.

Mitch Marner is now the team's only restricted free agent. The club's leading scorer during each of the past two seasons is eligible to sign at any point but has reportedly begun meeting with other teams as the threat of an offer sheet looms.

The Maple Leafs have a projected $6.9 million in cap space, with an extra $5.3 million made available by placing Nathan Horton on LTIR, according to Cap Friendly.

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Although Artemi Panarin is front and center on their radar, the New York Rangers will not engage in a bidding war for his services, sources told Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

While nothing is set in stone, the Rangers are unlikely to exceed an offer in the seven-year, $11.25-million range if another team goes higher, the sources indicated to Brooks.

Panarin met with New York's management on Thursday, but the dynamic Russian winger is also reportedly being courted with lucrative offers from the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Colorado Avalanche, among others.

He's arguably the top free-agent skater on the market this summer after recording 87 points for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2018-19.

The Rangers are in the midst of a rebuild but have quickly gathered a deep group of assets that could accelerate the process of becoming competitive again. Among their best pieces are 2019 No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko, while the team also has a projected $17.5 million in available cap space this summer.

After seven consecutive trips to the playoffs, New York missed out for the second season in a row in 2018-19, finishing 20 points outside the cutline with a record of 32-36-14.

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With apologies to Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene, the NHL's 2019 unrestricted free-agent class isn't teeming with star power - especially compared to the electric assortment of restricted free agents who are due new contracts this summer.

Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, Brayden Point, and Patrik Laine headline the surge of young stars who are on the precipice of signing rich deals. Add Sebastian Aho, Brock Boeser, Kyle Connor, Timo Meier, Matthew Tkachuk, Charlie McAvoy, and Zach Werenski to the list, and it becomes apparent that the money they stand to command is bound to become a defining storyline of this offseason.

For the first time since 2013, when the Calgary Flames tried to nab Ryan O'Reilly from the Colorado Avalanche, it seems more likely that at least one enterprising franchise could attempt to acquire another team's RFA with an offer sheet.

Even if no general manager wants to cede up to four first-round draft picks, the highest compensation tier for signing another club's RFA, in pursuit of a top scorer such as Marner, ripe targets might be found in skaters of secondary stature - think Kevin Labanc of the San Jose Sharks or the Washington Capitals' Jakub Vrana - whose clubs are constrained by the salary cap.

As we wait to see if that scenario comes to pass, the history of offer sheets in hockey merits a refresher on entertainment value alone. NHL lore is littered with anecdotes of GMs expressing their contempt for the practice in strong terms: by alleging tampering, by griping that these transactions inflate salaries, and, in one infamous case, by challenging a rival executive to a fistfight in a barn.

Here's a rundown of five offer-sheet episodes that ruffled feathers and altered the face of the league.

2012: Flyers go in for Shea Weber

Weber was a 26-year-old perennial All-Star and the Nashville Predators' captain when Philadelphia made a play to sign him in July 2012. The colossal deal - $110 million over 14 years - more than doubled the value of any previous NHL offer sheet.

The Flyers' offer seemed specifically tailored to price Nashville out of the picture. It was structured to pay Weber $52 million in signing bonuses over the first four years, including a 2012-13 season that looked threatened by a looming lockout.

However, the Predators had lost another No. 1-caliber defenseman in Ryan Suter just weeks earlier to the Minnesota Wild as a UFA. Unwilling to let his blue line be ravaged any further, Nashville GM David Poile matched the Flyers' offer instead of accepting four of Philly's future first-round picks.

The implications of the megadeal were sweeping.

Contracts exceeding eight years were outlawed in the CBA that resolved the subsequent lockout. The Flyers haven't won a playoff series since they missed out on Weber. Nashville traded Weber to the Montreal Canadiens in 2016 for P.K. Subban, with whom they reached the 2017 Stanley Cup Final - only to flip Subban to the New Jersey Devils last week to free up cap space in hopes of signing Duchene or another top forward.

Weber, now 33 years old and Montreal's captain, still has seven years remaining on his deal at an annual cap hit just shy of $8 million.

2007: Kevin Lowe provokes Brian Burke

Lowe, then the GM of the Edmonton Oilers, didn't endear himself to his managerial counterparts when, in July 2007, he signed Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek to a seven-year, $50-million offer sheet, the most lucrative such deal in NHL history prior to Weber's.

Sabres GM Darcy Regier - who'd personally told Lowe that he didn't plan to let go of Vanek and then matched the offer within minutes - said afterward that Lowe must have thought he was bluffing and called Edmonton's gambit "an exercise in futility." Lowe retorted by saying Regier's reaction was "rather juvenile."

The exchange set the stage for Burke, GM of the newly minted Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, to lash out at Lowe a few weeks later when the Oilers tendered a five-year, $21.5-million offer sheet to Ducks forward Dustin Penner, who'd earned a league-minimum salary of $450,000 the previous season. (Anaheim didn't match the offer and received Edmonton's selections in the first three rounds of the 2008 draft.)

Annoyed by what he considered an overpayment that elevated the going rate for young players, Burke said Lowe's offer was "gutless" and "an act of desperation for a general manager who is fighting to keep his job." That criticism sparked a rancorous feud that, a year later, prompted Lowe to call Burke a "moron" and an "underachieving wannabe" whose single Cup victory paled next to the six championships Lowe won during his playing days.

In 2011, a few years after the NHL warned Burke and Lowe they'd be fined if they didn't stop quarreling, Burke revealed that he'd tried to arrange a fight with Lowe through an intermediary, New York Rangers GM Glen Sather, even telling Sather that he'd rent a barn where the bout could be staged.

It all amounted to a great deal of hubbub over Penner, who scored more than 20 goals in three of his four seasons with the Oilers before his statistical output started to tail off.

1998: Hurricanes target Sergei Fedorov

In 1997, Fedorov compiled a point-per-game playoff campaign that helped the Detroit Red Wings to the franchise's first Stanley Cup title in 42 years. In search of a new contract to start the 1997-98 season, he was prepared to dig in for a prolonged holdout.

The dispute stretched into that winter's Olympic hockey tournament in Nagano, Japan, at which point Fedorov signed a record six-year, $38-million offer sheet with Carolina.

The Hurricanes, a weak team that had just relocated from Hartford, front-loaded their offer with a $14-million signing bonus and an additional $12 million that Fedorov would be paid in a lump sum if his club made that season's conference final. The latter clause led the NHL to reject the deal, but an arbitrator overruled the league and deemed the contract valid.

The Hurricanes - owned by Peter Karmanos, a Detroit-area businessman who shared a bitter, longtime rivalry with Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch - would never have been on the line for the second bonus, as they wound up missing the 1997-98 playoffs by nine points.

Meanwhile, Illitch's Red Wings were left to foot the whole bill when they matched the offer, reintegrated Fedorov into the lineup after his return from Japan, and - in a feat that did wonders to soften the financial blow - stormed to a second straight championship.

Fedorov, immediately $26 million richer as a result of his holdout, decided to kick-start a charity for children in the Detroit area by donating his $2-million base salary for the following season. In 2002, he won the third and final title of his career when the Red Wings rolled to victory in the Cup Final against a surprising opponent: Carolina.

1992: Flames try to poach Teemu Selanne

After drafting Selanne 10th overall in 1988, the Winnipeg Jets had to wait four seasons - a span that included a mandatory military stint in his native Finland - for him to cross the ocean to debut in the NHL.

But before Winnipeg could lock him into a contract at the end of that interlude, Calgary took advantage of Selanne's RFA status and signed him to a three-year, $2.7-million offer sheet - about $1.5 million more than the Jets wanted to shell out.

"There was a lot of angst in Winnipeg about, 'Was any player worth this kind of money?'" Selanne's agent, Don Baizley, told NHL.com in 2013. "I think he was really determined coming over under that sort of pressure. He was going to prove to people that he was a good player. It wasn't the offer sheet so much as the reaction to the offer sheet."

In the end, the price didn't deter Winnipeg GM Mike Smith from matching Calgary's offer, enabling Selanne to cement his place in the NHL record books as a member of the Jets. His 76 goals and 132 points in 1992-93 are still by far the most a rookie has ever produced.

Would Selanne have stayed in Calgary for longer than he lasted in Winnipeg? After a severed Achilles tendon and the 1994-95 NHL lockout cut short his second and third seasons, the Jets traded Selanne to Anaheim in February 1996, a few unhappy months before the franchise relocated to Phoenix.

1990-94: St. Louis' fixation on Scott Stevens

In the first half of the 1990s, the Blues were locked on acquiring Stevens, a hard-nosed veteran who'd risen to stardom over eight seasons with the Capitals. St. Louis persuaded him to sign as an RFA in July 1990 with a four-year, $5.1-million offer sheet, which the Capitals declined to match.

For the right to make Stevens hockey's highest-paid defenseman, the Blues owed Washington five first-round draft selections, a debt that proved problematic the following offseason when St. Louis GM Ron Caron successfully offer-sheeted 22-year-old Devils forward Brendan Shanahan.

With so many of their first-rounders already bound for D.C., the Blues offered to send two promising young players, goalie Curtis Joseph and forward Rod Brind'Amour, to New Jersey along with two draft picks. The arbitrator assigned to the case sided with the Devils, who wanted - and ultimately received - Stevens as compensation.

In July 1994, days after the contract to which they'd originally signed him expired, the Blues again inked Stevens to an offer sheet, this time for $17 million over four years. Had this second attempt to acquire him concluded differently, he would never have captained the Devils to three Stanley Cups.

New Jersey, though, matched the offer and upped the ante by accusing St. Louis management of tampering. An NHL investigation later uncovered an overnight air receipt that proved Blues president Jack Quinn had sent the offer sheet to Stevens' agent, Richard Bennett, that May while the defenseman was still under contract with the Devils.

The probe, which took until 1999 to complete, resulted in NHL commissioner Gary Bettman forcing the Blues to yield a first-round pick to New Jersey and to pay the Devils $1.4 million.

"I don't look at something of this nature as a triumph," New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters at the time. "I don't think the compensation could be severe enough. My request was five first-round picks, plus damages."

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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