Yashin soon eclipsed Daigle as the team's brightest young star, scoring 79 points in his rookie season and earning a nomination for the Calder Memorial Trophy.

Subsequent seasons saw him emerge as a star player in the NHL, helping Ottawa make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 1997.

Senators' management initially viewed Daigle, who had been selected first overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, as the franchise's cornerstone player.

In contrast to earlier contract disputes where many sympathized with his situation, the latest holdout caused many journalists and Senators' fans to sour on him.

Yashin had a poor series and did not attend the final team meeting, held after the Senators' early playoff exit.

[6] Islanders' general manager Mike Milbury promptly re-signed Yashin to an enormous ten-year, $87.5 million contract.

Although his contract was reduced by 24% due to the new NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed in 2005, Yashin was widely considered to be grossly overpaid and virtually untradeable.

The following years, his mediocre point production led people both inside and outside the Islanders organization to question his effort and salary.

Prior to the 2005–06 season, the Islanders lost several key players to free agency or retirement and significantly retooled their roster.

After the season ended, there had been speculation that the Islanders would buy out his contract and rebuild in a different image, but the team decided to retain him.

[10] By the 20-game mark, Yashin was earning praise in the local media for the first time in recent memory, and his point totals were among the league leaders.

In the first round series against the Buffalo Sabres, Yashin registered no points in five games and at times was demoted to the fourth line by head coach Ted Nolan.

"[16] However, the Senators showed little to no interest in bringing Yashin back into the fold, and Gandler was subsequently "not happy with" contract offers from various NHL teams, resulting in threats of his client returning to Russia to resume his hockey career.

This news came several months after he helped Lokomotiv Yaroslavl reach the seventh game of the Gagarin Cup final, which they lost 1–0.

[19] Ultimately, the two sides failed to come to terms and Yashin subsequently signed a one-year deal with CSKA Moscow for the 2011–12 season.