Jason Ward

Jason Ward was a junior sensation and a AHL MVP who could never find his offensive game in the NHL. Yet he lasted parts of 9 seasons, totalling 336 games played, as a gritty, ultra-competitive forward who was impossible not to admire.

Drafted 11th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1997, he made the team as a strong penalty killer and a voracious forechecker. The pressure he could put on while on the forecheck was absolutely suffocating.

He was traded to the New York Rangers in 2005 and enjoyed his best offensive output there in the next season and a half. However he was then traded to Los Angeles in exchange for the infamous Sean Avery.

Ward never really got untracked in LA, or in Tampa after that. He finished his NHL career in 2008-09 with 336 games played, 36 goals and 81 points.