first time in two seasons, Bure was one of the Panthers' offensive leaders in 2003–04. He reached 20 goals for the fifth time in his NHL career, and as the season's trade deadline approached, was Florida's leading scorer with 45 points. However, as the Panthers were out of playoff contention, they traded Bure to the Dallas Stars on March 9, 2004, in exchange for Drew Bagnall and a draft pick. Bure was placed on the Stars' top line with Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen, and he recorded 7 points in 13 games to conclude the regular season. Bure added three assists in five playoff games. An unrestricted free agent following the 2004 playoffs, Bure did not play anywhere in 2004–05 as the entire NHL season was canceled due to a labour dispute. He signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings for the 2005–06 season when the league resumed operations. He never played a regular season game for the Kings. A back injury suffered during the pre-season, initially just described as "soreness", kept him out of the regular lineup. The injury ultimately required surgery, and a second surgery on his hip caused Bure to miss the entire season. At the age of 31, he opted to retire following the surgeries. International Bure made his debut internationally with the Russian national junior team at the 1994 World Junior Championship. He was the leading scorer of the bronze medal-winning Russians with eight points in six games and was named to the tournament's All-Star Team. That same year, Bure first played with the senior team as he scored three goals in six contests at the 1994 World Championship in a fifth-place effort. After appearing in one game at the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996, Bure played in his first of two Olympic Games in 1998. The tournament marked the first time he played with his brother Pavel since they were briefly teammates with CSKA Moscow in 1991. Valeri scored one goal in the tournament, and Russia advanced to the gold medal game. They settled for the silver medal after being shut out by Dominik Hašek and the Czech Republic. Bure returned for the 2002 Salt Lake Games. He scored a goal in the tournament as Russia won the bronze medal. Russia invited him to play at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, but as he was without an NHL contract