Greatest NHL Draft Class?

[Al Bundy*]

After reading the thread on how the 1992 draft class is considered very weak, I was wondering about the opposite.

What would you consider the greatest NHL draft class?

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[reckoning]

1979

 

[MXD]

After reading the thread on how the 1992 draft class is considered very weak, I was wondering about the opposite.

What would you consider the greatest NHL draft class?

I would go for a certain Smashing Pumpkins song.

 

[the_speedster]

1979

have to admit I didn't even think about them. Lots of hidden gems there especially the number two all time scorer

My personal fave's (kinda like a '79 for gen x'ers) was the 1990 draft

1 Quebec Owen Nolan R Cornwall Royals (OHL) 991 365 410 775 1656
2 Vancouver Petr Nedved L Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) 982 310 407 717 708
3 Detroit Keith Primeau C Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL) 909 266 353 619 1541
4 Philadelphia Mike Ricci C Peterborough Petes (OHL) 1099 243 362 605 979
5 Pittsburgh Jaromir Jagr R Kladno (Czech) 1191 621 907 1528 849
6 NY Islanders Scott Scissons C Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 2 0 0 0 0
7 Los Angeles Darryl Sydor D Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 1097 94 377 471 696
8 Minnesota Derian Hatcher D North Bay Centennials (OHL) 1001 78 246 324 1548 9 Washington John Slaney D Cornwall Royals (OHL) 268 22 69 91 99
10 Toronto Drake Berehowsky D Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) 549 37 112 149 848
11 Calgary Trevor Kidd G Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 387 0 13 13 36
12 Mtl. Canadiens Turner Stevenson R Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) 644 75 115 190 969
13 NY Rangers Michael Stewart D Michigan State University (NCAA)
14 Buffalo Brad May L Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL) 882 123 153 276 2040
15 Hartford Mark Greig R Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) 125 13 27 40 90
16 Chicago Karl Dykhuis D Hull Olympiques (QMJHL) 644 42 91 133 495
17 Edmonton Scott Allison W Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
18 Vancouver Shawn Antoski L North Bay Centennials (OHL) 183 3 5 8 599
19 Winnipeg Keith Tkachuk L Malden Catholic H.S. (Mass.) 976 473 453 926 2033
20 New Jersey Martin Brodeur G St. Hyacinthe Lasers (QMJHL) 891 1 27 28 100
21 Boston Bryan Smolinski C Michigan State University (NCAA) 992 266 360 626 586


along with 2nd and further gems Vyacheslac Kozlov, Zhamnov, slegr, simon, potgvin , weight, renberg, theien, duhman, tamer, hendrickson, odjick, kordic, ciccone, shmelik, moran, turek, conroy, kovalenko, bondra, ken klee,

and the list goes on and on.. superstars, stars, journeymen, fighters, scorers, assist machines.. you name it..

I don't know if any draft could compete player for player compete with the 90 draft.. for me alot of the guys I knew and watched in the league in the 90's came from this one draft.

 

[Big Phil]

1979 is generally considered the best. When you've got Bourque, Messier and Goulet it's tough to argue.

2003 is on its way to the top though. Is it jsut me is every first rounder in the NHL right now? To be honest, if you count em up its pretty close minus Hugh Jessiman

 

[LidstrOrrm*]

1989

 

[Jumptheshark]

1979 is generally considered the best. When you've got Bourque, Messier and Goulet it's tough to argue.

2003 is on its way to the top though. Is it jsut me is every first rounder in the NHL right now? To be honest, if you count em up its pretty close minus Hugh Jessiman

1979 by far

all becuase they are in the nhl does not make it one of the top draft year.

a few years after the 79 draft--it became obvious that a few would end up in the hall of fame--not saying 2003 was not a very good draft

but the 79 draft was only 6 rounds and 126 players taken

11 out of the 21 first rounders played over 1000 games

9 players later drafted would play 1000+


about 45 played 650+games

for such a small draft---lot of damage

 

[GNick42]

'79 by far...but it was because it was actually 2 draft years in 1. Players born in '59 and '60 were both eligible

 

[tony d]

1979.

 

[Z0S0]

2008

no I would have to agree with most and say 79

 

[MS]

1979 is only great because it was essentially 3 draft years in one. By moving up the draft age 2 years, players born in 1959, 1960, and 1961 all became first-time eligible in the same draft. Imagine how good the 2007 draft would have been if all the 2005 and 2006 guys were thrown in there, too.

2003 was also helped by the fact that the ridding of the opt-in rule added a double-class of US-born players. 7 #1 picks in 2003 would have been selected in 2002 without that rule, and if you take those guys out and add the first 7 guys from the 2nd round (none of whom are NHL regulars yet) it doesn't look nearly as strong.

To me, the strongest single-year class ever is probably 1983 - there were just a ridiculous amount of guys in that draft who went on to 10+ year careers including at least 5 HHOFers.

 

[Drago]

17 Edmonton Scott Allison W Prince Albert Raiders

wow what a stellar draft pick that turned out to be

 

[bishop12]

1991 was a great class.

 

[WingsFan95]

1984

Lemieux gets picked #1.

Patrick Roy was selected as #51.

Brett Hull was selected 117th.

Cliff Ronning was 134th.

Luc Robitaille was 171st.

Gary Suter was 180th.


Then there's Kevin Hatcher, Gary Roberts, Al Iafrate, Kirk Muller, Ed Olczyk, Scott Mellanby, Stephane Richer, Jeff Brown, Michal Pivonka, Ray Sheppard, Kevin Miller and David Volek