Consistency was Arnott's hallmark. The native of Collingwood, Ontario, never scored more than 33 goals in a season (a total he reached twice), but he scored at least 20 in 10 consecutive seasons from 1998-99 through 2008-09. Arnott also saved the only playoff overtime goal of his career for the biggest moment -- on June 10, 2000, he scored at 8:20 of the second overtime in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to give the New Jersey Devils the championship.
The Edmonton Oilers selected Arnott, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound center, with the No. 7 pick in the 1993 NHL Draft. He was an instant success, scoring 33 goals and finishing with 68 points as a 19-year-old in 1993-94, coming in second behind goalie Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils (a future teammate) in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. But Arnott never came close to matching those numbers during his next three seasons with the Oilers, and after he got off to a slow start in 1997-98, the Oilers traded him to the Devils on Jan. 4, 1998.
Consistency was Arnott's hallmark. The native of Collingwood, Ontario, never scored more than 33 goals in a season (a total he reached twice), but he scored at least 20 in 10 consecutive seasons from 1998-99 through 2008-09. Arnott also saved the only playoff overtime goal of his career for the biggest moment -- on June 10, 2000, he scored at 8:20 of the second overtime in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to give the New Jersey Devils the championship.
The Edmonton Oilers selected Arnott, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound center, with the No. 7 pick in the 1993 NHL Draft. He was an instant success, scoring 33 goals and finishing with 68 points as a 19-year-old in 1993-94, coming in second behind goalie Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils (a future teammate) in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. But Arnott never came close to matching those numbers during his next three seasons with the Oilers, and after he got off to a slow start in 1997-98, the Oilers traded him to the Devils on Jan. 4, 1998.
Arnott, Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora were put together on what became known as the "A Line," and were a big reason the Devils won the Cup in 2000. He had reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight season when the Devils traded him to the Stars on March 19, 2002.
He continued to be one of the NHL's most consistent scorers with Dallas, scoring at least 21 goals in each of his three full seasons with the Stars, including 32 goals and an NHL career-high 76 points in 2005-06. That attracted the attention of the Nashville Predators, who signed him as a free agent on July 2, 2006.
Arnott made his second trip to the NHL All-Star Game in 2008, during a sesaon where he had 28 goals and 72 points, and matched his NHL career-high with 33 goals in 2008-09. But after he dropped to 19 goals in 2009-10, the Predators traded him to the Devils on June 19, 2010. He scored 13 goals in 62 games with the Devils before they traded him to the Washington Capitals on Feb. 28, 2011.
The St. Louis Blues signed Arnott as a free agent on July 6, 2011. He scored 17 goals and had 34 points in 2011-12 before retiring with 938 points (417 goals, 521 assists) in 1,244 NHL games, as well as 73 points (32 goals, 41 assists) in 122 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- NHL All-Rookie Team (1994)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1997, 2008)
- Traded to New Jersey by Edmonton with Bryan Muir for Valeri Zelepukin and Bill Guerin, January 4, 1998.
- Traded to Dallas by New Jersey with Randy McKay and New Jersey's 1st round pick (later traded to Columbus, later traded to Buffalo, Buffalo selected Daniel Paille) in 2002 NHL Draft for Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner, March 19, 2002.
- Signed as a free agent by Nashville, July 2, 2006.
- Traded to New Jersey by Nashville for Matt Halischuk and New Jersey's 2nd round pick (Magnus Hellberg) in 2011 NHL Draft, June 19, 2010.
- Traded to Washington by New Jersey for David Steckel and Washington's 2nd round pick (later traded to Minnesota , Minnesota selected Raphael Bussieres) in 2012 NHL Draft, February 28, 2011.
- Signed as a free agent by St. Louis, July 6, 2011.
- Officialy announced his retirement, November 5, 2013.