Former Player Tracking: Still Not Much to Miss

In continuing to track the players who left over the summer, it is clear, even this early, that those who we expected to be missed will be missed, and those we expected to not matter haven't mattered much. With the excitement of the offseason clearly clouding the judgment of some of our friends around the league, we tried to warn them. Kobe wasn't going to suddenly become more than Kobe, and the expectations for some of the others shoudl have gone down, not up.

Still, they raised their hopes. With only the exceptions we expected, the disappointment has reigned supreme. Enjoy those players, new teams.

Brent Burns

Looks like a career year for Burns if he keeps this going.

Martin Havlat

Cam Barker

Mittens isn't doing much in the KHL. Thirteen games played, six points (1G, 5A), still averaging about 13 1/2 minutes per game. Certainly contributing, but nothing overly impressive. Since last week, he added one assist. Huge loss.

Andrew Brunette

Chuck Kobasew

Yeah. Didn't think so.

Listed on the Sharks injured reserve after the second knee surgery this summer, Sheppard is not currently skating.

Eric Nystrom

Jose Theodore

What it All Means

The point of this tracking is not to reminisce and long for the forgotten heroes of yesterday. Rather, the purpose is to ensure you that moves can be made without a major loss, even if those players are fan favorites. Only one or two players should be on the list of players you would want back on the roster. If you don't know which two, you're falling behind the curve.