What is the best job done by one team in one draft year?

[Slats432]

I was just floating around looking at teams and their draft records. I noticed that in 1989 the Detroit Redwings came to the draft table and made these selections.

1989
11 C Mike Sillinger
32 D Bob Boughner
53 D Nicklas Lidstrom
74 C Sergei Fedorov
95 C Shawn McCosh
116 R Dallas Drake
137 D Scott Zygulski
158 D Andy Suhy
179 Bob Jones
200 D Greg Bignell
204 L Rick Judson
221 D Vladimir Konstantinov
242 R Joe Frederick
246 G Jason Glickman

What do you think is the best job done by one team, one draft? By the way...my vote is for the one above.

Click to read more...

 

[Chief]

That's a pretty damn impressive draft but I thought there was another Detroit draft that was also pretty damn impressive...let me do some homework...

 

[McThome]

Well for my pick I'd easily go with the Oilers in 79. Although there isn't as many guys come out of that draft that Detroit got in the draft listed above, the quality is is much greater A franchise defensman, a soon to be the second all time in scoring center who is widly accepted as one of if not THE GREATEST leader of all time. And One of THE most clutch players of all time and formed the best second line of all time with Messier. To me, drafting three franchise players is better then drafting two franchise players and some third pairing Dmen and fourth line checkers. But that's just my opinion.

 

[littleHossa]

You're right about the Oilers but Konstantinov isn't a 3rd line pairing defenseman.

 

[looooob]

Calgary and Montreal both did VERY well in 1984

 

[looooob]

Well for my pick I'd easily go with the Oilers in 79. Although there isn't as many guys come out of that draft that Detroit got in the draft listed above, the quality is is much greater A franchise defensman, a soon to be the second all time in scoring center who is widly accepted as one of if not THE GREATEST leader of all time. And One of THE most clutch players of all time and formed the best second line of all time with Messier. To me, drafting three franchise players is better then drafting two franchise players and some third pairing Dmen and fourth line checkers. But that's just my opinion.

I'm not disputing the fact that by drafting Lowe,Messier and Anderson in 1979 that's a great draft. but , IMO, calling Kevin Lowe a Franchise player is a stretch (and yes I know he was a good player and won alot of cups)

 

[isles52480]

Maybe not the best, but...

N.Y. Islanders 1974 draft:
ClarK Gillies
Bryan Trottier
Dave Langevin
Stefan Persson

16 rings.

 

[Slats432]

Well for my pick I'd easily go with the Oilers in 79. Although there isn't as many guys come out of that draft that Detroit got in the draft listed above, the quality is is much greater A franchise defensman, a soon to be the second all time in scoring center who is widly accepted as one of if not THE GREATEST leader of all time. And One of THE most clutch players of all time and formed the best second line of all time with Messier. To me, drafting three franchise players is better then drafting two franchise players and some third pairing Dmen and fourth line checkers. But that's just my opinion.

As an Oiler fan I thought about that one...but...

Lidstrom is going to be considered on of the better defensmen of all time(and probably the best of this era).

Fedorov is one of the best two way centers of all time.

Boughner is a tough top four blueliner.

Konstantinov is a tough top four blueliner.(and I would hazard that he is better than Kevin Lowe was.)

Sillinger is a good two way center good for almost 40 points a year.

Drake is about the same...good two way forward 40 points a year.

All out of one draft. Better than the Oil in 1979 without a doubt.

 

[Lard_Lad]

Boston had a pretty comparable one in 1979. Ray Bourque, a cut above Lidstrom; Brad McCrimmon, a good match for Lowe and Konstantinov; Larry Melnyk, pretty much the same player as Boughner; Keith Crowder and Mike Krushelnyski, both good scorers in their primes; Marco Baron, who spent a season as their starting goalie; and Doug Morrison, who looked like he was going to be good but could never quite make it out of the AHL on a permanent basis. And that's all their picks - every one of them made the NHL. Detroit might have a little bit of an edge in talent, but Boston has them beat for batting average, since over half of the Wings' 1989 picks never made it.

 

[evman150*]

Well for my pick I'd easily go with the Oilers in 79. Although there isn't as many guys come out of that draft that Detroit got in the draft listed above, the quality is is much greater A franchise defensman, a soon to be the second all time in scoring center who is widly accepted as one of if not THE GREATEST leader of all time. And One of THE most clutch players of all time and formed the best second line of all time with Messier. To me, drafting three franchise players is better then drafting two franchise players and some third pairing Dmen and fourth line checkers. But that's just my opinion.

That's exactly what I was thinking. The '79 draft by Edmonton was crazy, it set up their dynasty.

 

[Brownies]

Konstantinov was a #1 defenseman, not a 3rd pairing or a top 4...

 

[PigPen]

Konstantinov is a tough top four blueliner.(and I would hazard that he is better than Kevin Lowe was.)

Up until Konstantinov's career ending and life threatening injury, many thought he had been the best defenseman in the league for 3 years running. (No, not just the Detroit media)

He was so mean and nasty he made guys like Foote and Hatcher look like choir boys.
He was the best open-ice hitter the league has seen in the past 15, maybe 20 years.
He was strong enough to move the likes of John Leclair and Eric Lindros from the front of Detroit's net with ease. Keep in mind he was only 5'11" 190.
He was fast enough to keep up with a healthy Bure.
His defensive positioning was pure perfection, as his +60 rating in 1995-1996 season suggests.
He was good enough offensively to put up 30 points with little PP time consistently.

"Tough top 4 blueliner" doesn't do the man justice. Kevin Lowe had a great career, winning more cups but Lowe's own talents are barely comparable to Konstantinov's.

 

[Wingboy2999]

Detroit in '89. Definetely.

 

[Strizzi]

What's particularly impressive in that Detroit draft is not only who they drafted, but also how late they found these superstars (53 Lidstrom, 74 Fedorow, 221 Konstantinow).

 

[Douggy]

74 Fedorow, 221 Konstantinow

Was Detroit the only one following world events in 1989?? The way I understand it was, everyone knew these guys were great players, but couldn't get them out of the USSR.

But everybody knew Communism was falling (and it would be a matter of time before they could come out), so why didn't they take these guys??

 

[looooob]

1984
5 D Petr Svoboda
8 L Shayne Corson
29 L Stephane Richer
51 G Patrick Roy
54 R Graeme Bonar
65 Lee Brodeur
95 Gerry Johannson
116 C Jim Nesich
137 D Scott MacTavish
158 C Brad McCaughey
179 Eric Demers
199 D Ron Annear
220 David Tanner
240 G Troy Crosby


To follow up on my post yesterday...here's Montreal 1984. Not much beyond the first 4 guys, but a pretty good draft with one of the best goalies of alltime and three above average NHLers with their first 4 picks

1984
12 L Gary Roberts
33 D Ken Sabourin
38 L Paul Ranheim
75 F Petr Rosol
96 Joel Paunio
117 R Brett Hull
138 Kevan Melrose
159 C Jiri Hrdina
180 D Gary Suter
200 Petr Rucka
221 Stefan Jonsson
241 D Rudolf Suchanek

And here's Calgary 1984. maybe no-one in the Roy,Messier,Bourque class....but a sure fire HOFer in Brett Hull, two allstars in Suter and Roberts, another 20 year NHL role player in Ranheim and a pretty good international player in Hrdina who didn't come over until he was nearly 30 but still won 3 Stanley cups...plus a few cup of coffee guys

 

[Big McLargehuge]

'89 Wings

holy crap that was amazing...

 

[Juan]

1984
5 D Petr Svoboda
8 L Shayne Corson
29 L Stephane Richer
51 G Patrick Roy
54 R Graeme Bonar
65 Lee Brodeur
95 Gerry Johannson
116 C Jim Nesich
137 D Scott MacTavish
158 C Brad McCaughey
179 Eric Demers
199 D Ron Annear
220 David Tanner
240 G Troy Crosby


To follow up on my post yesterday...here's Montreal 1984. Not much beyond the first 4 guys, but a pretty good draft with one of the best goalies of alltime and three above average NHLers with their first 4 picks

If the Canadiens manage to draft #240's son in 2005, that alone might make it a better draft for them than in 1984.

 

[Slats432]

20 G Martin Brodeur #1
24 D David Harlock AHL
29 R Chris Gotziaman ECHL
53 G Mike Dunham #1
56 D Brad Bombardir #4
64 R Mike Bodnarchuk ECHL
95 D Dean Malkoc AHL
104 D Petr Kuchyna
116 Lubomir Kolnik
137 D Chris McAlpine #6
179 D Jaroslav Modry #1 / #2
200 G Corey Schwab #2
221 L Valeri Zelepukin #2 Center
242 D Todd Reirden AHL/NHL

That isn't good enough to be the best ever.

 

[Douggy]

That isn't good enough to be the best ever.

But it's probably the best of this decade.

 

[Coffey77]

The Oilers had another great year where they got 3 guys on their cup team. That draft was right after the one Thome mentioned. Coffey was one those guys. Can't remember the other 2. Kurri and Moog?

Konstantinov a 3rd pairing d-man? I assume that was an over-sight. Vladdy was in Norris contention in his last year in the NHL. Konstantinov was a number one defenceman, kind of like Adam Foote. He was also known as one of the most dirty and nasty players in the NHL.

1989 was a great draft for Detroit. 3 all-stars (Lidstrom, Fedorov, and Konstantinov) and 3 NHL'ers (Boughner, Sillinger, Drake).

 

[thestonedkoala]

If all of Nashville's picks work out from this year's draft they'll have one of the best drafts...I mean look at who they picked up:

7 Ryan Suter
35 Konstantin Glazachev
37 Kevin Klein
49 Shea Weber
76 Richard Stehlik
89 Paul Brown
92 Alexander Sulzer
98 Grigory Shafigulin
117 Teemu Lassila
133 Rustam Sidikov
210 Andrei Mukhachev
213 Miroslav Hanuljak
268 Lauris Darzins

 

[turnbuckle*]

There have been a number of good drafts through the years.

Edmonton's draft in 1980 may have been arguably as good as the 1979 draft with Kurri, Coffey and Moog selected. The only problem with those two drafts is they lacked quantity, unlike the Detroit draft of 1989, and several others. If you're going to pick a draft as the best overall going for quality over quantity, then it could be argued that the Habs' draft of 1971 was the best ever, with the Habs selecting Lafleur, Arnason, Murray Wilson and Larry Robinson. It could also be argued that the Penguins' draft in 1984 was the best ever, with Lemiuex and Doug Bodger. Mario makes that an amazing draft all on his own, although, I'd pick Lafleur/Robinson over Lemieux/Bodger, but not by much. Fact is none of the drafts had enough depth to be considered the best ever, particularly when some other drafts have featured both quality and quantity.

Chicago had an amazing draft in 1980 as well, arguably the best of all time:

Denis Savard (1338 points in 1196 games)
Jerome Dupont (214 NHL games)
Steve Ludzik (424 NHL games)
Troy Murray (scored 50 goals one season, 915 NHL games)
Carey Wilson (424 points in only 552 games)
Steve Larmer (1012 points in 1006 games
Jim Ralph (does a great Don Cherry; even had a cup of coffee in NHL)
Dan Frawley(273 NHL games)
Ken Solheim (135 NHL games)

Los Angeles had a helluva bonanza in 1980 as well:

Larry Murphy (second highest scoring D-man of all time)
Jim Fox (promising career cut way too short by injury)
Greg Terrion (solid checking career)
Steve Bozek (see above)
Bernie Nicholls (1209 points in 1127 games)
Daren Elliot (backup goalie)
Daryl Evans (scored famous goal in miraculous comeback playoff win over Edmonton in early 80's; a legend)

A notch below Chicago's , but one of the best ever drafts neverthelss.

St. Louis did alright in 1976, picking up Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Mike Liut, John Smrke, Mike Eaves and Anders Hakansson, but I would have to rank Chicago's 1980 draft slightly ahead of it due to the overall depth.


1st - Chicago 1980
2nd - Detroit 1989
3rd - St. Louis 1976
4th - Montreal 1971 (Lafleur Robinson et al)

 

[scosar]

That's exactly what I was thinking. The '79 draft by Edmonton was crazy, it set up their dynasty.

The 79 draft was incredible for just about every team. Except Montreal who picked up Gaston Gonads. Just about every other team picked up a team leader who would dominate in the 80's. The reason for this is that they changed the draft age. So 1979 was a double year where you could draft 18 & 19 year olds.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

If all of Nashville's picks work out from this year's draft they'll have one of the best drafts...

Isn't this true of every team?