Breaking: Former 3rd overall pick signs in Europe

Former top prospect Cam Barker, selected 3rd overall behind Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin by the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2004, has signed with Ilves Tampere of the Finnish Liiga. 

The veteran of 310 NHL games has spent the past six seasons playing in the KHL mostly with Bratislava Slovan. Despite putting up a 40 point campaign with the Blackhawks back in 2008-09, Barker was never able to secure a full-time job in the NHL. In 310 games split between the Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, Barker put up 21 goals and 96 points. 

The smooth skating, six foot, 3 inch, 215 pound blue liner from Winnipeg, Manitoba is perhaps most famous for being selected behind established NHLer like Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Devan Dubnyk, Cory Schneider and Mike Green. And, of course, the two players selected before Barker, Ovechkin and Malkin, have gone on to establish themselves as generational superstars. Just imagine if either the Washington Capitals or Pittsburgh Penguins had passed on either Ovechkin or Malkin and one of the two was left open to the Blackhawks. Oh what could have been…