Maybe I’m the only one who remembers these two. Josh Green was projected by many as a power forward, and was one of the young prospects who came back in the Roman Hamrlik trade (Eric Brewer was the centerpiece of the deal for Edmonton, and a second round pick that would turn into Brad Winchester was also included) while Drew Bannister was a well-regarded young prospect who won gold at the World Juniors as well as a Memorial Cup but never ended up showing much at the NHL level.
Josh Green is bound for MoDo of the Elitserien after a season to forget with the Iowa Chops of the AHL (although he found himself in five NHL playoff games with Anaheim). He’s played seven full (or mostly full) NHL seasons, and he’s never bettered his effort as a 22-year old sophomore, when he scored 12 goals and 26 points in just 49 games for the New York Islanders.
After scoring ten goals in limited duty during his first season with Edmonton, I recall The Hockey News talking about how his soft hands meant he could score 15-20 with more icetime. The next season, he recorded a total of two points (both assists) in 20 games before being sent to the Rangers for a conditional pick.
Coming the other direction is Drew Bannister. He signed a two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators on Friday after eight seasons in Europe. It’s pretty rare to see 35-year old defenseman make that decision, especially given that he was pretty much a confirmed minor-leaguer when he left. His time in Edmonton was limited to 35 games; he came in as a return on journeyman defenseman Jeff Norton and left to bring in journeyman defenseman Bobby Dollas.
Bannister’s official NHL biography has a great line that’s worth sharing:
The Ducks kept him just 27 games, and he was back to the Lightning where he was reunited with two of his [Memorial-cup winning] Greyhound teammates, goalies Kevin Hodson and Dan Cloutier, but the team never made the playoffs.
No kidding.