There’s a good chance that years from now, we’ll look back at these last few weeks as the dawn of the offer sheet era, with the Barrett Hayton shot followed by a massive Leo Carlsson chaser. Things got wild.But it could have been wilder. Gather ’round, kids, grandpa’s got a quick story time.The concepts of restricted free agents and offer sheets first appeared in the NHL in 1988, and for the first few years, they looked very different from what we know today. In certain circumstances, the player’s original team had no right to match. And if a team couldn’t or wouldn’t match the offer, there was no pre-made chart of draft pick compensation to refer to.Instead, the compensation would be players — basically, the two teams would be forced to work out a trade. And if they couldn’t directly agree on what that trade should be, things got even wilder. Both teams would submit a proposal for what they thought a “fair” deal would look like, and an independent arbitrator would have to pick one or the other.Patrick Kane homecoming in Chicago or Buffalo?Mark Lazerus and Shayna GoldmanThe most infamous example of this process came in 1991, when the Blues signed Brendan Shanahan to an offer sheet, prying him away from a Devils team that had no right to match. The Blues offered a compensation built around two young players in Rod Brind’Amour and Curtis Joseph. Not bad. But the Devils wanted more, and they asked for superstar blueliner Scott Stevens instead. Somewhat shockingly, the arbitrator sided with the Devils, sending a furious Stevens to New Jersey and altering the next decade-plus of NHL history.That decision directly led to the NHL scrapping the forced-trade system in the 1994 CBA. Today, we’re bringing it back.Why? Because the old system was all sorts of chaotic fun, and we miss it. You think it’s fun to argue over one trade? Imagine getting two to chew on — one that will actually happen, and one that lingers as an eternal “what if?”So today, we’re going to recreate the old system and apply it to eight of the biggest offer sheets. All eight of these players signed offer sheets. None actually changed teams because their deals were matched, the way almost every offer sheet has been since 1994.But not today. Today, we’re going to change history by applying the old forced-trade system to the eight biggest offer sheets of the last few decades.Here’s how it will work. Representing the signing teams will be Julian McKenzie. Representing the original teams will be Mark Lazerus. Each will come up with what their sides think is a fair offer — or at least, fair enough to sway the arbitrator, who’ll be played by Sean McIndoe. Julian and Mark have each submitted their offers to Sean without knowing what the other sent.1995: Jets vs. Blackhawks for Keith TkachukThe player: Chicago’s timing couldn’t have been better here, as we now know that Tkachuk, just 22 years old, was on the verge of back-to-back 50-goal seasons that saw him emerge as one of the league’s premier power forwards. Meanwhile, the struggling Jets were one year away from moving to PhoenixJulian’s Hawks offer: Does a one-for-one swap, say Tony Amonte for Keith Tkachuk, move the needle? Amonte isn’t that much older than Tkachuk, and he’s scored over 30 goals twice in his career. Winnipeg would get a goal-scoring winger in return for theirs. Could be a pretty fair trade.Mark’s Jets offer: At the time of the offer sheet, Tkachuk was merely very good — 41 goals in 84 games in 1993-94, followed by 22 goals in the 48-game lockout season of 1994-95 — not yet utterly dominant. So Jeremy Roenick or Chris Chelios are not reasonable asks here.With that in mind, the Jets request promising 24-year-old Tony Amonte, who had not yet broken into stardom and recent first-round pick Sergei Krivokrasov, coming off a solid but unspectacular rookie campaign. Winnipeg is betting on upside (and cheap labor) here.Arbitrator Sean says: Pack your stuff, Tony Amonte. The question here is whether he’ll have company in Krivokrasov. Given that Tkachuk hasn’t hit his HHOF stride yet, I think the Jets are getting greedy here. Hawks win, and send Tony Amonte to the Jets.How history changes: Not enough for the Jets, sadly, who take Amonte to Phoenix with them. But Tkachuk never gets to Arizona, meaning his kids aren’t born there and never decide they love warm weather more than anything.1997: Avalanche vs. Rangers for Joe SakicThe situation: The Rangers are getting older and trying to keep their Cup window open by luring a Stanley Cup-winning, 100-point-getting, super-leader of a player via an offer sheet to Joe Sakic. The Avs are one year removed from a title but still finding their financial footing, and in a world where they aren’t saved by a Harrison Ford movie, we have to be creative through trade.Julian’s Rangers offer: We’re not flipping Wayne Gretzky in a trade. But how about scoring winger and fellow 100-point getter Luc Robitaille? The numbers have trailed a little, but he can still be an elite goalscorer if you need him. We’re looking to move him, anyway. This trade might be a bit more packed. But we could do Robitaille and youngster Niklas Sundstrom, coming off a 24-goal season, in exchange for Sakic? Colorado gets a playoff-experienced forward and a youngster with potential.Mark’s Avalanche offer: Oh, you want one of the very best players in the league, do you? A guy one year removed from the Conn Smythe Trophy? A guy with four 100-point seasons under his belt? A guy who’s just turning 28 years old? A guy we drafted and developed into a superstar? A guy who led us to the Stanley Cup in our very first year in a new city, entrenching us as a viable market in perpetuity? Yeah, I bet you do.It’ll cost ya.Give me Brian Leetch. Straight up. The reigning Norris Trophy winner. Same age. Best at his position.Arbitrator Sean says: I kind of love this one, since it’s the closest we’ll get to the classic Blues/Devils Stevens case. One side is offering some perfectly good players. The other is swinging for the fences on a blue-line stud. It was so much fun the first time that I have to lean on arbitrator precedent here. The Avalanche win and are awarded Leetch.