I didn't realize that the NHL had compensatory picks for these Blake Wheeler-like cases so I learned something new today.
I think the compensatory picks for unsigned 1st rounders has been in the CBA since 1995. I think the CBA language requires that the team made an offer at some point to the the player.
1998: Devils received pick #37 (10th pick of 2nd round) after not signing Lance Ward (10th pick in 1996). I think this was a case that the Devils preferred a mulligan rather than signing Ward. Ward would get re-drafted #63 by Florida.
Colorado received pick #53 for not signing Peter Ratchuk. Ratchuk was no longer draft eligible at that point and signed an ELC with Florida.
1999: Kings received pick #43 for not signing Matt Zultek. Zultek would be re-drafted #56. Kings were underwhelmed by Zultek's lack of progress after taking him #15 in 1997. Zultek was notable since that 1997 1st was the main asset that LA got in return for trading Wayne Gretzky in 1996.
Avalanche received pick #54 for not signing Kevin Grimes. Grimes went undrafted in 1999 and played mostly in the ECHL after.
2000: Islanders received #39 for not signing Mike Rupp. Rupp would be re-drafted #76 by New Jersey and he'd score the 2003 Cup winner.
This is probably the most infamous one. Ottawa received #45 for not signing Mathieu Chouinard. Then used the compensatory pick to re-draft Chouinard. It was an odd series of events. When Ottawa drafted Chouinard in 1998, Pierre Gauthier was the GM but he resigned right after the draft (and became Ducks GM a few weeks later). Rick Dudley was then named Ottawa's GM, but then he quit a year later to become Tampa's GM. Marshall Johnston replaced Dudley in Ottawa.
Through the turmoil, they had barely contacted Chouinard. Right before they were about to lose his rights, they made a lowball offer and refused to negotiate. Chouinard and his agent were upset with Ottawa and chose to re-enter the draft. Unfortunately for them, Ottawa just took him one more time.
2000 also featured a high profile case at the time with Mike Van Ryn. Back in those days, NCAA players had to wait an extra year to be drafted. Van Ryn used a loophole where he left college and joined the OHL. At which point he'd be too old to re-enter the draft when his rights expired. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello challenged the loophole but lost. Van Ryn ended up signing for about a million per year with St. Louis. Devils were probably offering something about 600K. Devils got back pick #56 for Van Ryn.
This became known as the Mike Van Ryn rule although he wasn't the first one to use it. 1997 pick Ben Clymer used it before Van Ryn. Clymer shunned Boston to sign with Tampa. Boston had drafted Clymer 27th overall but that was the first pick of the second round in 1997.
The NHL ended up giving Boston the #66 pick (first pick of the third round) in 2000 as compensation. Not sure if Boston complained since the first round had gotten longer with Nashville/Atlanta/Columbus/Minnesota joining the league. But I think this was the only case of a non-first round player netting a compensatory pick.
Clymer was originally a defenseman but converted to right wing. He'd be a depth forward on Tampa's 2004 Cup squad.
2001: Phoenix got pick #45 for not signing 1999 1st rounder Scott Kelman. Kelman went undrafted in 2001.
Buffalo got pick #50 after 1999 1st rounder Barrett Heisten used the Van Ryn loophole to sign with the Rangers.
2003: Chicago received pick #59 after not signing 2001 pick Adam Munro. Munro was a bit of a surprise pick in 2001. Munro would sign an AHL ATO to begin the 2003-04 season and landed an ELC with Chicago after that.
2004: Rangers received pick #46 after not signing 2001 1st rounder R.J. Umberger. I forget if this was a case where Umberger didn't want to sign or if the Rangers preferred the pick.
Dallas received pick #56 for not signing 2002 1st rounder Martin Vagner who then went undrafted. Dallas used the pick on Nicklas Grossmann who was an NHL regular which is a rarity for the compensatory picks.
2005: Kings got pick #60 for not signing 2001 1st rounder David Steckel. Steckel actually played a year for the Kings' AHL/ECHL clubs during the lockout. I guess they decided they'd rather have the pick. Steckel signed an ELC with Washington.
2006: Boston received pick #37 for not signing 2002 1st rounder Lars Jonsson. Edmonton received pick #45 for not signing 2002 1st rounder Jesse Niinimaki but turned that into Jeff Petry.
LA got pick #48 for not signing Jens Karlsson. That pick almost turned into Milan Lucic but apparently new GM Dean Lombardi vetoed the pick and made the scouts choose a defenseman (who didn't pan out).
2007: Minnesota got pick #42 for not signing 2004 1st rounder A.J. Thelen.
2008: Phoenix got pick #35 for not signing 2004 1st rounder Blake Wheeler; It was more Wheeler not wanting to sign with the Coyotes.
2009: Rangers got pick #47 since they hadn't signed Alexei Cherepanov prior to his unfortunate passing.
2011: Montreal got pick #50 for not signing 2006 first rounder David Fischer.
2012: San Jose received pick #55 as compensation for not signing 2007 1st rounder Patrick White. White was originally drafted by Vancouver but they included him in the Christian Ehrhoff trade. San Jose had no intention of signing White and took the pick.
2013: Winnipeg received #59 as compensation for not signing 2008 1st rounder Daultan Leveille (originally drafted by Atlanta). The Jets drafted Eric Comrie.
2015: Chicago received pick #54 for not signing 2010 1st rounder Kevin Hayes. Hayes spurned the deep Blackhawks for the Rangers.
2016: Arizona received pick #53 for not signing 2014 1st rounder Conner Bleackley. Bleackley was originally drafted by Colorado. Kinda like the Patrick White deal, Arizona had no intention of signing him. As I remember it, Colorado had immediate buyer's remorse on Bleackley after he showed up in poor shape at his first camp. Bleackley was re-drafted in the 5th round by St. Louis.
2022: Minnesota received pick #56 for not signing 2018 1st rounder Filip Johansson. Pick was made by the previous regime and the current one decided it'd rather have the pick. Johansson signed an ELC with Vancouver.