What If: Alexei Yashin Doesn't Hold Out of the 1999-2000 Season

I've done a few of these "What If's" before, and some of them haven't gone as well as I thought they would.  However, in the interest of today's random thought, here is one about Alexei Yashin and if he never held out for the second time in his career.  So, without further ado, here goes (going up to the end of the 2003-04 season):

It is the 1999-2000 season, and Yashin is coming off of his best season yet, scoring 94 points, with 44 of them being goals, and he is in the final year of his current contract with the Senators.  Yashin knows that a big payday is forthcoming, and he wants to do his best.  The Senators win the Northeast Division that year, barely beating their provincial rivals in the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Yashin goes on to break the 100 point mark that year, but is beaten out for the Art Ross Trophy by Jaromir Jagr.  Things are looking good for the Senators...until their first round matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Because the Senators had home ice advantage in that series though, the Sens would go on to win in seven tough games, with Yashin being the difference maker.  Their next opponent would be the New Jersey Devils, and despite their offensive talents, the Senators could not solve Martin Brodeur, and go down 4-2.  In the offseason, Yashin asks for big money, and the Senators were unwilling to pay the price tag.  As a result, Yashin leaves for a larger payday in New York and the Rangers while Ottawa is left to scramble for a replacement for Yashin beginning the following season.  The captaincy Yashin left behind is given to Daniel Alfredsson, who puts up decent numbers, but it isn't enough, as Ottawa falls to the seventh seed in the 2000-01 season, where they would get swept by a revenge-minded Maple Leafs team in the first round that year.  Meanwhile, Yashin proves to have a good first year as a Ranger, but for the next five years, he does little of note, as his numbers see a precipitous decline in subsequent years.  Ottawa, needing to fill some holes on their team, dangle Marian Hossa as trade bait, and find a taker in the New York Islanders, who send their first round pick, Zdeno Chara, and Bill Muckalt.  While Hossa becomes a breakout star with the Islanders, even leading them to a Conference Final in 2002, the Senators struggle to find some offense, as evidenced by a couple more one and dones in the playoffs.  However, they find that Chara is a superstar in the making on the blue line, and lock him up to a long term deal.  Meanwhile, that first round pick in 2001 turns out to be Jason Spezza, who would join the team in the 2003-04 season, and while he doesn't have immediate success, there is hope, as he provides a spark late in the season.