25 years ago, the New York Islanders selected Zdeno Chara in the third round of the 1996 NHL Draft. He’d play 231 games for New York before being involved in the trade to bring Alexi Yashin to Long Island.
It was one of Mike Milbury’s numerous blunders, but now a quarter of a century later, the Islanders have the chance to right the wrong. They brought him in on an undisclosed one-year deal to play on their blue line.
He spent last year with the Washington Capitals and played in 55 regular-season games. In those games, he had 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) while averaging 18:19 seconds of ice time.