Draper was one of the greatest "finds" in NHL history. He played 17 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and helped them win the Stanley Cup four times from 1997-2008 -- all after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets for exactly $1.

The Jets selected Draper, a center from Toronto, in the third round (No. 62) of the 1989 NHL Draft after he played the 1988-89 season with Canada's national junior team. He went on to play one more season with Canada, helping it finish first at the 1990 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Draper made his NHL debut and scored a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 4, 1990. But in three seasons with Winnipeg, Draper played in just 20 games and spent most of his time with Moncton of the American Hockey League.

Draper's career turned, however, when the Red Wings acquired him from the Jets on June 30, 1993, a transaction that cost his new team $1. Doug MacLean, a former Red Wings assistant and general manager of their AHL affiliate in Adirondack, urged the Red Wings to acquire Draper, who soon became a valuable checking center and penalty-killer for a team on the rise.

He soon paired with Kirk Maltby and Joe Kocur (later replaced by Darren McCarty) to form the "Grind Line," a unit that lived up to its nickname by wearing down opponents and making things easier for future Hockey Hall of Famers such as Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan.

The Red Wings ended a 42-season championship drought when they won the Stanley Cup in 1997. They would repeat in 1998, then win it again in 2002 and 2008. By then, Draper had added more offense to his defensive prowess; he scored 15 goals in 2001-02, 14 in 2002-03 and an NHL career-high 24 in 2003-04 -- when he was also won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward.

Beginning in 1997-98, Draper won at least 52 percent of his face-offs in each of his final 13 NHL seasons, one of the best runs of success in the circle in the NHL -- and one of the main reasons Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman called up him in 1994.

Draper retired after the 2010-11 season with 364 points (161 goals, 203 assists) in 1,157 regular-season games, and 46 points (24 goals, 22 assists) in 222 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

After retiring, Draper remained with the Red Wings in a number of roles, including director of amateur scouting.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• Traded to Detroit by Winnipeg for future considerations, June 30, 1993.
• Officially announced his retirement, July 26, 2011.