Editing Craig Patrick (section)

===Later years as GM===
The Penguins also reached the conference finals in 1996 and 2001.

However his later years were plagued by the Penguins' financial woes as well as a series of poor trades.

Perhaps his most infamous trades came in March 1996 when he sent future NHL scoring ace [[Markus Näslund]] to the [[Vancouver Canucks]] in exchange for [[Alek Stojanov]], a role player with just two career NHL goals; a 2003 [[Sports Illustrated]] article described this as the "worst trade in NHL history".<ref>{{cite web |last=Steigerwald |first=Paul |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_116086.html |title=Naslund trade no big deal back then - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review |publisher=Pittsburghlive.com |date=February 2, 2003 |access-date=September 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207062224/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_116086.html |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Then, in an effort to appease then player and captain Mario Lemieux, Patrick traded top scoring defenseman [[Sergei Zubov]] to the Dallas Stars for Kevin Hatcher, a slower moving and older version of Zubov with less upside at that point in their careers.

In July 2001, Patrick sent Jagr and role player [[Frantisek Kucera]] to the [[Washington Capitals]] for three minor league prospects ([[Kris Beech]], [[Michal Sivek]], [[Ross Lupaschuk]]) and nearly US$5 million cash. The deal was forced by the Penguins financial woes (indeed this saved the club much money as Jagr would fail to live up to expectations with the Capitals), as well as Jagr's growing dissatisfaction with the Penguins. The trade was nonetheless widely criticized in the Pittsburgh media, as the three prospects acquired in the deal never made any significant contribution to the Penguins' organization. Another reason for this criticism was that the New York Rangers allegedly were willing to make a deal which would have given Pittsburgh two established players and higher quality prospects. However, many believed Patrick resented the Rangers for firing him earlier in his GM career, which made him ask for a greater and to an extent unfair return.<ref name="sports illustrated">{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jim_kelley/05/22/craig.patrick.notes/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526063916/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jim_kelley/05/22/craig.patrick.notes/ |last=Kelley|first=Jim|
url-status=dead |archive-date=May 26, 2008 |title=Sweet vindication for Craig Patrick|publisher=Sportsillustrated.cnn.com |access-date=September 23, 2011}}</ref> One published report had Patrick demanding [[Petr Nedvěd]], [[Radek Dvořák]] and [[Mike York]], as well as two prospects for Jágr, which Rangers GM [[Glen Sather]] quickly shot down as Patrick's demands were unreasonable.

From the 2001–02 season onwards, Penguins missed the playoffs in the next four seasons of Patrick's term as General Manager.

After the 2004–05 lockout, in the 2005 off-season, Patrick drafted teen phenomenon [[Sidney Crosby]] with the first overall pick. Patrick also acquired veterans [[Ziggy Palffy]], [[Sergei Gonchar]], [[John LeClair]] and [[Mark Recchi]]. While 18-year-old Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points, the older free agents had little to show for the millions that Patrick spent on them (though Gonchar would remain a key player in 2008–09). The Penguins finished last in the Atlantic Division for the fourth consecutive time. After 17 years as Penguins General Manager, Patrick was relieved of his duties on April 20, 2006, when his expiring contract was not renewed by team president [[Ken Sawyer]].<ref>{{cite web|author=CBC Sports |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/penguins-part-ways-with-patrick-1.584127 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105071029/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/04/20/patrick-penguins060420.html |url-status=live |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |title=Penguins part ways with Patrick - CBC News |publisher=Cbc.ca |date=April 21, 2006 |access-date=September 23, 2011}}</ref> Succeeding GM [[Ray Shero]] praised Patrick's selection of [[Marc-André Fleury]], Crosby, and [[Evgeni Malkin]], but also said that work had to be done to build up the depth and third/fourth lines for the long-term, rather than a quick-fix.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=2457592&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines |title=Shero hired by Pens after talks with Bruins lapse - NHL - ESPN |publisher=[[ESPN]] |date=May 25, 2006 |access-date=September 23, 2011}}</ref>

Patrick was initially bitter about his firing and stayed away from hockey-related activities for a while afterwards.<ref name="sports illustrated" /> The Penguins returned to the postseason in 2007, with Crosby being named regular season MVP and winning the scoring title, though they lost in five games to eventual finalists, the [[Ottawa Senators]].

In 2008, Patrick accepted an invitation from owner [[Mario Lemieux]] to watch the game in the owners box where the Penguins defeated the [[Philadelphia Flyers]] to take the Eastern Conference championship. Patrick's later draft picks, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby were credited with the team's advance to the Stanley Cup Finals that year, where they lost to the [[Detroit Red Wings]] in six games.<ref name="sports illustrated" /> In 2009, these players had instrumental roles in Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup win.