5 former stars who returned to past teams

What was once old is new again in the NHL.

After the first two days of free agency, there appears to be a growing trend of teams becoming more willing to bring back players who once donned their jersey in years past.

The St. Louis Blues have brought back David Perron, the New York Islanders are giving P.A. Parenteau a second chance, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are welcoming back Roman Polak.

The phenomenon is certainly nothing new, but is nevertheless intriguing. That being said, similar moves have also included some of the game's greats.

Here are five former stars who also made returns to former teams:

Mark Messier

After enjoying his first 12 - and arguably his most prolific - years of his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers, Messier was traded to the New York Rangers ahead of the 1991-92 season.

In his first season with the Rangers, he captured the Hart and Lester B. Pearson trophies. Two years later, he would make Rangers history by capturing the Stanley Cup on a run that included his famous guarantee to win Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Messier would eventually leave for the Vancouver Canucks via free agency, spending three seasons there before returning to the Rangers for the 2000-01 season.

Messier was reintroduced as captain, and would play four more seasons for the Rangers before calling it a career.

Teemu Selanne

After a blazing start to his career with the Winnipeg Jets that saw himset an NHL record with 76 goals and 132 points as a rookie - Teemu Selanne was abruptly dealt to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks during the 1995-96 campaign.

However, all worked out well. Selanne would go on to form an instant chemistry with Paul Kariya and enjoyed great production for five years. But as fate would have it, Selanne was dealt once again, this time to the San Jose Sharks.

Two years in San Jose and a failed Stanley Cup quest with the Colorado Avalanche later, and Selanne rejoined the Ducks; where the rest (506 more points) is history.

Luc Robitaille

Luc Robitaille not only rejoined the Los Angeles Kings once, he did so on two separate occasions.

Robitaille played the first eight seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Kings before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1994. He would spend one season with the Penguins and two with the Rangers before landing back in Los Angeles.

He would put up three 35-plus goal seasons in four years with the Kings, before joining the Detroit Red Wings in pursuit of a Stanley Cup. Robitaille succeeded in his quest, capturing the Cup with the Red Wings in 2002 with a team boasting the likes of Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Brett Hull, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Dominik Hasek.

After a down second year where he amassed just 31 points, Robitaille would return to the Kings, where he would play out the final two years of his career.

Denis Savard

Denis Savard burst on to the scene with the Chicago Blackhawks after being drafted third overall in 1980.

By his eighth year in the league, he had already amassed five 100-point seasons. However, following the 1989-90 season, he was famously traded to the Montreal Canadiens in a deal for defenseman Chris Chelios.

While Savard's numbers started to decline, he still managed to capture the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens during the 1992-93 season. That offseason, he was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning where he would play just over a season before being sent back to Chicago for a sixth-round pick.

Savard played two more seasons following the trade before retiring at the end of the 1996-97 season. He still sits as the Blackhawks leader in points per game, and third on the franchise's all-time points list with 1,096 to his name.

Ron Francis

While Ron Francis didn't officially rejoin the same team, he did rejoin the same franchise.

After being drafted fourth overall in 1981 by the Hartford Whalers, Francis enjoyed a long tenure with the club, finally being traded 67 games into his 10th season with the team.

He was traded to the Penguins as part of a six-player deal that worked out incredibly well, as Francis would capture back-to-back Stanley Cups in his first two seasons with the Penguins. He would spend eight seasons in total with the Penguins - the most productive campaigns of his career.

Following the 1997-98 season, Francis would sign with the Carolina Hurricanes - formerly the Whalers - as a free agent. He would spend the next six seasons in Carolina before being dealt to the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline in 2004, which was his final season in the league.

Honorable Mention

Brendan Shanahan

Brendan Shanahan was drafted second overall in the 1987 Draft and spent his first four years with the New Jersey Devils.

After a polished career spent with the Blues, Whalers, Red Wings, and Rangers over 17 years, Shanahan agreed to rejoin the Devils midway through the 2008-09 season. There he would contribute six goals and eight assists in 34 games and another three points in seven playoff games.