Those people might point out that Campbell was not selected until the sixth round of the 1997 NHL Draft, No. 156 overall, by the Buffalo Sabres.
A decade later Campbell was leading the Sabres to their second straight trip to the Eastern Conference Final in 2007, having become one of the top puck-moving defensemen in the NHL.
But in 2008 the Sabres decided they would not sign Campbell as an unrestricted free agent in the summer and traded him to the San Jose Sharks before the 2008 NHL Trade Deadline. The Sharks lost in the second round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs before deciding, like the Sabres, not to sign Campbell to a contract.
The Chicago Blackhawks signed Campbell to an eight-year contract that summer worth in excess of $57 million and armed with a no-trade clause. He helped lead them to the 2009 Western Conference Final before winning the Stanley Cup in 2010.
But again, a year later, Campbell became a salary cap casualty with the Blackhawks, and he was asked to lift his no-trade clause and accept a trade to the Panthers, run by his former general manager in Chicago, Dale Tallon. He was traded to Florida at the 2011 NHL Draft for forward Rostislav Olesz, who played six games for Chicago.
"The game of hockey, as a lot of people know, is a business," Campbell said. "It's probably not the move I wanted to make at the time, but it was kind of put to me and I had to make a decision. I'm fine being overlooked if that's the case, or if I'm overrated, whatever. That's life. But at least my effort's there and I try to continue to get better and help other people to get better.
"I feel like I'm playing great hockey right now. I've played great hockey for a long stretch of my career and I've got a lot more great hockey left in me."