The Montreal Canadiens have had five skaters in their franchise history play in 1,000 or more games, with Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey being the last players to break that mark. In today's NHL, it is rare for a player to stay that long with a franchise, but the Canadiens had a player about a decade ago come painfully close and would have broken it if not for a contract dispute.
Andrei Markov was a sixth-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1998 NHL Draft and played all 16 seasons with the Canadiens. He would finish with 990 regular season games and was tied with Guy Lapointe for second in points among defensemen in franchise history with 572.
Even in his final season with the Canadiens at 38 years old, Markov was still very productive with 36 points and almost 22 minutes of ice time per game during the 2016-17 season.
Andrei Markov tried everything to remain with the Canadiens but the team wasn't interested
In 2017, Markov was set to be an unrestricted free agent, but made it clear that he wanted to remain with the only NHL team he ever played for. According to Greg Wyshynski, Markov originally wanted a two-year deal but was willing to sign for just a one-year deal after it was clear he wouldn't get his originally desired contract term.
Even with a willingness to accept a one-year deal, general manager Marc Bergevin wasn't interested and Markov had no choice but to head to the KHL to continue his career.
"I was ready to stay in Montreal. I was ready to sign one-year deal. But it didn't work," he said."
The decision not to bring back Markov on a one-year deal not only impacted the franchise history as it denied him the chance to join elite company, but it was just one of many decisions that resulted in a horrible offseason. After winning the Atlantic Division the season prior, the Canadiens would fall to sixth and see their point total drop from 103 to 71.
Would Markov have completely changed the season for the Canadiens? Probably not. However, it is hard to argue that it wouldn't have made them more competitive. Even though Markov did not reach the 1,000-game mark, he will still go down as one of the best defensemen to ever play for the Montreal Canadiens.
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