Viacheslav Fetisov did not enter the National Hockey League until he was 30, but the Soviet Defenseman was considered one of the best of the decade of the 80s, anchoring the U.S.S.R. to multiple World Championships and Olympic medals.  When he finally made it to North America, he was with the team that drafted him, New Jersey, before he was traded early in the 1994-95 Season to Detroit.

Johan Franzen played his entire 11-year career with the Detroit Red Wings after the Swedish Left Wing was drafted in the Third Round in 2004.

Everyone likely agrees that the Hall of Fame career of Marcel Dionne was firmed as a Los Angeles King, but it began in the Original Six with Detroit, a team that was not immensely blessed with other talents on Dionne's level at the time.

Vyacheslav Kozlov arrived in the NHL as an early Third Round Pick in 1990, and after bouncing back and forth between the minors and the parent club, Kozlov was ready to stay in the 1993-94 Season with a 73 Point Season.