The last time a generational NHL player hit free agency, he was oh-so-close to signing with the Vancouver Canucks, but management found a way to screw it all up.
That man, by the way, was Wayne Gretzky. He’s only the greatest player in NHL history, with four Stanley Cup championships, nine Hart Trophies, 10 scoring titles and a whopping 2,857 career points – which nobody will ever come close to.
“The Great One” finished up a short tenure with the St. Louis Blues and entered free agency in 1996. In early 2015, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox and Elliotte Friedman detailed the story about how the Canucks almost won the No.