LSU quarterback and 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow speaks to the media at the NFL combine on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Indianapolis. Detroit Free Press
The prize was Sidney Crosby, one of the greatest prospects anyone had seen since Wayne Gretzky. And the method to determine who got him, as best as then-Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean can recall, was hashed out over a few meetings as the NHL negotiated a new labor agreement to end the 2004-05 lockout.
MacLean’s Blue Jackets had the fourth-worst record the year before the NHL shut down for a full season, and he and representatives for some of the other teams near the bottom of the standings — the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks — wanted to ensure they had a chance to land the generational, franchise-altering talent at the top of the 2005 draft.