Players who joined a team, but never actually played for them.

[Passchendaele]

Training camp invitees don't count.

Probably not many people remember that, but Vincent Damphousse signed with COL shortly before the lockout broke out in 2004.

Stephane Quintal joined the Kings that same summer.

But both never played a single game, as they retired before they could step on NHL ice again.

Click to read more...

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Hossa, Datsyuk and Pronger to the Yotes but I would assume you wouldn't want these to count either

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Mike Richter and Brian Leetch with the Oilers

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Mark Messier -San Jose
Dan Hamhuis-Philadelphia
John Vanbiesbrouck-Vancouver

 

[FerrisRox]

Jaroslav Halak with the Buffalo Sabres.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Greg Johnson (RIP ) signed with the Red Wings in 2006 only to have to immediately retire when his cardiac issues were discovered before the season.

(Okay, so technically he doesn't count, having played for them in the 90s, but he never suited up for his second stint.)

 

[The Panther]

I believe Jari Kurri was a Philadelphia Flyer for about 24 hours in 1991.

 

[Satastic]

Mike Hoffman as a Shark

 

[Don Nachbaur 26]

Steve Larmer to Hartford
Mark Streit to TB
Sam Gagner to TB
Kyle Quincey to TB

Wow, TB has taken place a lot in flipping guys

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Arnott signed with the Rangers in 2013 but failed his physical

 

[DaveG]

Al Iafrate - Carolina 1998

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

John Vanbiesbrouck-Vancouver

good one.

also the martin jones to boston switcheroo

 

[sr edler]

Valeri Bure with LA.

He appeared in a Kings uniform during the 05–06 pre-season though.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Bending the rules as he was a camp invite, but Jimmy Carson and the Islanders in 1997. He could still play but his heart was in finance.
Rotislav Klesla was traded to Washington in part of the Erat deal, and flipped to Buffalo for Halak in 2014. Klesla didn't want to play for the Sabres and decided to retire from the NHL.

 

[tony d]

Glenn Anderson with the Canucks in 1995-1996.

 

[Doctor No]

Mike Richter ... with the Oilers

And with the Predators!

 

[brachyrynchos]

Bengt-Åke Gustafsson played his last NHL season with the Caps in 1988-89 then decided to go back home and play for Färjestad and raise a family. A year later, Detroit selects him in the 1990 waiver draft even though he had no intention of returning to North America. Well, a year later in the '91 expansion draft San Jose selects him. Not quite sure why, unless like the Red Wings they thought he might be interested in coming back. He never actually joined these teams so he might not apply...just found it interesting.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Mark Fitzpatrick-Quebec
Bobby Hull- Played in the 1981 preseason with the Rangers.
Bill Guerin-Appeared in a few preseason games with Philadelphia in 2010.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Stéphane Beauregard had a wacky summer in '92. After 3 seasons with Winnipeg, he's traded June 15th to Buffalo. August 7th he's traded to Chicago who trades him back to Winnipeg 3 days later. Almost 2 months later (October 1st) he's traded to Philly where he actually suits up for a year. Sidenote is that the next offseason he's traded back to Winnipeg (6/11/93).

 

[brachyrynchos]

Tim Thomas with the Islanders maybe. Traded from the Bruins to New York he never played and waited until his contract expired before signing a deal and playing some games with Florida. He took time off and didn't play the '12-13 season and was suspended by Boston I think before being traded to the Isles near the '13 trade deadline.

 

[kaiser matias]

Tim Thomas with the Islanders maybe. Traded from the Bruins to New York he never played and waited until his contract expired before signing a deal and playing some games with Florida. He took time off and didn't play the '12-13 season and was suspended by Boston I think before being traded to the Isles near the '13 trade deadline.

From the same year, Evgeni Nabokov was signed by the Red Wings after his abortive bry in Russia, but was instead claimed by the Islanders. Of course he held out and didn't want to join them and sat the season out, before joining the Islanders the following season and ended up playing three seasons there.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

peter zezel, anaheim

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Pete Peeters and Keith Acton with Winnipeg in 1989. Bobby Clarke tried to circumvent the waiver draft rules by 'trading' Peeters and Acton to Winnipeg for future considerations. Winnipeg GM Mike Smith agreed to protect them in the waiver draft for a 1991 5th round draft pick. Less than a week later, Peeters and Acton were traded back to Philly. John Ziegler fined both teams $10,000.

So, what was all the hub-bub about trades? There were two of them that had an impact on the results of the draft. On September 28, mere days before the draft, the Flyers traded goalie Pete Peeters and forward Keith Acton to the Jets for future considerations. The Jets had a young team and could protect Peeters and Acton without sacrificing any of their other players. On October 3, the day after the draft, the Jets traded Peeters and Acton back to the Flyers for a draft pick and other considerations. (Specifically, the Jets received the Maple Leafs' fifth round pick in the 1991 Entry Draft (which the Flyers had acquired on Sept. 9 in a trade for Mark Laforest—the Jets used the pick on Finnish defenceman Juha Ylonen) and the future considerations in another previous trade involving Shawn Cronin were cancelled.) The others teams immediately cried foul; it was obvious that the Flyers 'stashed' Peeters and Acton with the Jets in order to prevent them from being eligible for selection.

The NHL investigated the matter and on December 2, after two months of internal deliberations, President John Ziegler fined both the Flyers and Jets $10,000 each for using the guise of trades to loan players and keep them from being taken in the waiver draft. The trades were not rescinded: the Flyers kept Peeters and Acton and the Jets kept the draft pick they were given.

In 1990 the waiver draft rules were amended such that any players traded by a club in the four weeks preceding the waiver draft were not allowed to be reacquired by that club in the season that followed.

Historical Hockey Stats & Trivia: 1989 NHL Waiver Draft

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

ryan o’reilly, flames, almost

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

1980 Miracle On Ice winger Rob McClanahan had a promising 82-83 season with the Rangers, reunited with coach Herb Brooks, playing on a line with Mark Pavelich & Ron Duguay. The next year a humdrum training camp, an injury & a lot of forward depth saw him down on the farm. In May of 84 he was dealt to the Wings, but before he could suit up he was traded to Vancouver in August for Tiger Williams. He was already working as a stock broker in New York that summer when he heard the news. He retired at 25 to pursue a career in the stock market rather than report to the Canucks.