McMaster assembled a Wolves team that was a perennial playoff contender, but often failed to make a substantial run.
McMaster watched the team go into a free fall during the strike-shortened 1994-95 season, which prompted him to fire popular head coach Barry Melrose and assistant coach Cap Raeder with seven games left in the season as the team bottomed out to finish with a 16-23-9 record.
[3][4] Faced with growing frustration from Wayne Gretzky, on 27 February 1996, McMaster traded Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues for three prospects, Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif and Roman Vopat, along with a 5th round pick in 1996 (Peter Hogan) and a 1st round pick in 1997 (Matt Zultek).
While Johnson was able to earn a full-time roster spot with the team, both Tardif and Vopat left the league within three years, while Hogan and Zultek failed to make it to the NHL altogether.
[7] Despite not being able to maximize his returns on trades, McMaster was able to acquire future Kings mainstays Mattias Norstrom and Ian Laperrière.