2003 draft - best ever?

[Belizarius]

well interesting post on the 1979 draft, I learnt a lot of things.

I think 1998 could be a better match : only Heinrich (Oilers) didn't reach the NHL and there was a lot of future All-Stars (not only in 1st round) or valuable NHL regulars, even if at the time nobody thought about all of them.
I agree, there was some busts... but 97 and 98 are a lot better than 99, 2000, 2001... too soon to put 2002 (with the lockout).
2003 is at least a "good" version of 98 and could be better.
29/30 signed 2 years after, with a college record it means underclassmen left before graduation. So they are enough talented to reach the NHL faster...

 

[nneate]

Los Angeles with 3 1st round picks
San Jose with 2 1st round picks

And overall a pretty strong draft, We'll just have to wait and see if its one of the best ever, it certainly has the potential though.

 

[MattintheHatt]

in 2008, We'll have a better idea. But it definitly has potential of being amazing, many of those players are already penciled into their respective NHL lineups this year!

 

[Motown Beatdown]

I was especially pleased with Toronto's selection that year!!

Oh wait.

We didn't have a pick in the first round.

I feel your pain, and then some.

 

[PigPen]

EDIT: ALWAYS read the thread first. I'll atone by listing all the 1979 draftees who had meaningful careers.



This is ONLY the first Round in 1979 The only player that didn't turn out was Jimmy Mann. Best draft ever -- BY A WIDE MARGIN. And it gets better - Top Players from later rounds also mad it big - John Ogrodnick, Mark Hardy, Brent Ashton, and the list keeps growing. Hell, Dino Ciccarelli and Kelly Kisio weren't even drafted in this their draft year, but were signed as FAs.

1 Colorado Rob Ramage D Birmingham Bulls (WHA) 1044 139 425 564 2224
2 St. Louis Perry Turnbull F Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) 608 188 163 351 1245
3 Detroit Mike Foligno F Sudbury Wolves (OHA) 1018 355 372 727 2049
4 Washington Mike Gartner R Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) 1432 708 627 1335 1159
5 Vancouver Rick Vaive R Birmingham Bulls (WHA) 876 441 347 788 1445
6 Minnesota Craig Hartsburg D Sault-Ste.-Marie Greyhounds (OHA) 570 98 315 413 818
7 Chicago Keith Brown D Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) 876 68 274 342 916
8 Boston Ray Bourque D Verdun Black Hawks (QMJHL) 1612 410 1169 1579 1141
9 Toronto Laurie Boschman F Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 1009 229 348 577 2262
10 Minnesota Tom McCarthy F Oshawa Generals (OHA) 460 178 221 399 330
11 Buffalo Mike Ramsey D U. of Minnesota (NCAA) 1070 79 266 345 1012
12 Atlanta Paul Reinhart D Kitchener Rangers (OHA) 648 133 427 560 277
13 NY Rangers Doug Sulliman F Kitchener Rangers (OHA) 631 160 167 327 175
14 Philadelphia Brian Propp F Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 1016 425 579 1004 830
15 Boston Brad McCrimmon D Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 1222 81 322 403 1416
16 Los Angeles Jay Wells D Kingston Canadians (OHA) 1098 47 216 263 2359
17 NY Islanders Duane Sutter F Lethbridge Broncos (WHL) 731 139 203 342 1333
18 Hartford Ray Allison F Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 238 64 93 157 223
19 Winnipeg Jimmy Mann R Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL) 293 10 20 30 895
20 Quebec Michel Goulet F Birmingham Bulls (WHA) 1089 548 604 1152 823
21 Edmonton Kevin Lowe D Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) 1254 84 348 432 1498


Round 2

22 Philadelphia Blake Wesley D Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) 298 18 46 64 486
25 NY Islanders Tomas Jonsson D Sweden 552 85 259 344 482
26 Vancouver Brent Ashton F Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 998 284 345 629 635
27 Mtl. Canadiens Gaston Gingras D Birmingham Bulls (WHA) 476 61 174 235 161
28 Chicago Tim Trimper F Peterborough Petes (OHA) 190 30 36 66 153
30 Los Angeles Mark Hardy D Montreal Juniors (QMJHL) 926 62 306 368 1293
32 Buffalo Lindy Ruff F Lethbridge Broncos (WHL) 691 105 195 300 1264
33 Atlanta Pat Riggin G London Knights (OHA) 350 0 8 8 41
34 NY Rangers Ed Hospodar D Ottawa 67's (OHA) 450 17 51 68 1314
35 Philadelphia Pelle Lindbergh G Sweden 157 0 5 5 10
37 Mtl. Canadiens Mats Naslund F Sweden 651 251 383 634 111
38 NY Islanders Billy Carroll C London Knights (OHA) 322 30 54 84 113
40 Winnipeg Dave Christian R U. of North Dakota (NCAA) 1009 340 433 773 284
41 Quebec Dale Hunter C Sudbury Wolves (OHA) 1407 323 697 1020 3565


Round 3

42 Minnesota Neal Broten C U. of Minnesota (NCAA) 1099 289 634 923 571
44 Mtl. Canadiens Guy Carbonneau C Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) 1318 260 403 663 820
48 Edmonton Mark Messier C Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) 1756 694 1193 1887 1910
49 Chicago Bill Gardner F Peterborough Petes (OHA) 380 73 115 188 68
50 Los Angeles John-Paul Kelly F New Westminster Bruins (WHL) 400 54 70 124 366

54 Atlanta Tim Hunter F Seattle Breakers (WHL) 815 62 76 138 3142
55 Buffalo Jacques Cloutier G Trois Rivieres Draveurs (QMJHL) 255 0 7 7 51
56 Philadelphia Lindsay Carson C Billings Bighorns (WHL) 373 66 80 146 524
57 Boston Keith Crowder R Peterborough Petes (OHA) 662 223 271 494 1344
58 Mtl. Canadiens Rick Wamsley G Brantford Alexanders (OHA) 407 0 9 9 52
59 NY Islanders Rollie Melanson G Windsor Spitfires (OHA) 291 0 12 12 109
60 Hartford Don Nachbaur F Billings Bighorns (WHL) 223 23 46 69 467
62 Quebec Lee Norwood D Oshawa Generals (OHA) 503 58 153 211 1099

Round 4

NHL Totals
Num. Drafted By Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM

65 St. Louis Bob Crawford R Cornwall Royals (QMJHL) 246 71 71 142 72
66 Detroit John Ogrodnick F New Westminster Bruins (WHL) 928 402 425 827 260
69 Edmonton Glenn Anderson F U. of Denver (NCAA) 1129 498 601 1099 1120
74 Buffalo Gilles Hamel R Laval National (QMJHL) 519 127 147 274 276
75 Atlanta Jim Peplinski F Toronto Marlboros (OHA) 711 161 263 424 1471
76 NY Rangers Pat Conacher L Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 521 63 76 139 235
78 Boston Larry Melnyk D New Westminster Bruins (WHL) 432 11 63 74 686
81 Hartford Ray Neufeld F Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) 595 157 200 357 816
83 Quebec Anton Stastny F Czechoslovakia 650 252 384 636 150

5th Round


86 St. Louis Mark Reeds F Peterborough Petes (OHA) 365 45 114 159 135
87 Detroit Joe Paterson L London Knights (OHA) 291 19 37 56 831
89 Vancouver Dirk Graham F Regina Pats (WHL) 772 219 270 489 917
95 Buffalo Alan Haworth C Sherbrooke Beavers (QMJHL) 524 189 211 400 425

98 Philadelphia Thomas Eriksson D Swedish Jr. Nationals 208 22 76 98 97
99 Boston Marco Baron G Montreal Juniors (QMJHL) 86 0 4 4 56

102 Hartford Mark Renaud D Niagara-Falls Flyers (OHA) 152 6 50 56 86
103 Winnipeg Thomas Steen F Sweden 950 264 553 817 753
104 Quebec Pierre Lacroix L Trois Rivieres Draveurs (QMJHL) 274 24 107 131 197

6th Round

109 Washington Greg Theberge D Peterborough Petes (OHA) 153 15 63 78 73

112 Chicago Doug Crossman D Ottawa 67's (OHA) 914 105 359 464 534

115 Pittsburgh Marc Chorney D U. of North Dakota (NCAA) 210 8 27 35 209

120 Boston Mike Krushelnyski C Montreal Juniors (QMJHL) 897 241 328 569 699

124 Winnipeg Tim Watters D Michigan Tech (NCAA) 741 26 151 177 1289

 

[God Bless Canada]

Put it this way: every player from the 1979 first round played at least 400 games, except one. Gartner, Bourque, Goulet, Messier and Anderson are in or will be in the HHOF. Many others - Propp, McCrimmon, Carbonneau, Hunter, Lowe, Naslund and Broten - had very significant accomplishments. Many other players enjoyed long and successful NHL careers.

Even if you discount 1979 for its added strength on various factors - drawing from two draft years, death of the WHA - there are still better drafts. 1980 gave us Murphy, Coffey, Savard, Kurri, Larmer, Nicholls, Loob, MOog, Babych, Bullard (very effective in his prime), B. Sutter, B. Pederson, Hrudey, and many others. 1981 gave us Hawerchuk, Fuhr, Chelios, Francis, MacInnis - five current or future HHOFers. There were many other players from that draft, Mike Vernon, for example, who went onto long, successful careers with many accolades. 1983 and 1984 were great drafts, too.

Let's wait and see how many HHOFers, Stanley Cup champion captains, Conn Smythe winners, award winners and stars come from this draft before even mentioning 2003 in the same breath as some of the elite drafts from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

2003 has the potential to be the best draft since, say, 1998 or 1995.

 

[boredmale]

So, can we say 2003 draft is at the same level as 1979?

it will be hard for any draft to exceed the 79 draft because the 79 draft was the first year they allowed 18 year olds to be drafted i believe so you had 3 draft classes in 1.

 

[NYR469]

the 2003 draft looks great but lets see how it looks 5-10 years from now. lots of guys look great as prospects and then never make it in the nhl (or atleast never reach expectations). if all the guys from the class reach expectations it will likely be one of the best draft classes ever, but there are also bound to be atleast a few bust among the group.