Whenever a new expansion team enters a sport, it creates opportunities for players struggling to find homes at the elite level.  One of the most significant recipients of playing time when the Nashville Predators began operations was Drake Berehowsky, who was traded to the team nine days before the puck dropped for the first time.

Berehowsky scored 17 Points in his first year in Nashville, which he increased to 32 in 1999-00, a career high for the Defenseman who enjoyed his role as a team leader and tough guy.  After scoring 24 Points in 66 Games in the 2000-01 campaign, Berehowsky, whose stock was worth a lot more than when he arrived in Nashville, was dealt to Vancouver for their playoff push.

As a Predator, Berehowsky amassed 73 Points and 327 Penalty Minutes in 219 Games, which was by far his most successful run in professional hockey.

Cody Franson debuted for the Nashville Predators in 2009, four years after the native of British Columbia was drafted in the Third Round.  

Franson had a very good rookie year, finishing 11^th in Calder voting, with 21 Points and a +15 Plus/Minus.  The season after, Franson scored 29 Points with a +10 Plus/Minus, and should have been a stalwart for the Predators for years to come.  Instead, Nashville dealt the Defenseman to Toronto, though years later, he was sent back for Nashville’s 2015 playoff run.  Franson signed with Buffalo afterward, ending his Predators run with 54 Points.

A Los Angeles King for the first five-and-a-half years of his NHL career, Neil Komadoski was a defensive stalwart for the team throughout the 1970s.

Komadoski was not an offensive star, only scoring 67 Points with Los Angeles, but he had a Plus/Minus of +18, a good number considering where the Kings were at the time.  He was traded to St. Louis midway through the 1977/78 campaign.

Matt Greene was a member of the Edmonton Oilers before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008 off-season.  In L.A., he finished his career, but it wasn't brief, as he played there for nine seasons.

Greene was a traditional stay-at-home Defenseman who didn't score much, but didn't have to.  He only accumulated 67 Points in a Kings uniform but had a Plus/Minus of +21 and was a crucial part of their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup wins.