Why Were There So Many Good Players Drafted 1979--1981?

[The Panther]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but it's always struck me that a disproportionate number of highly skilled and even elite players emerged in the NHL (mainly through the draft, of course) in the years 1979 to 1984.

Examples:

1979

Wayne Gretzky (ex-WHA)
Mike Gartner (ex-WHA)
Ray Bourque
Michel Goulet (ex-WHA)
Mark Messier (ex-WHA)
Also:
Glenn Anderson
Mats Naslund
Rob Ramage (ex-WHA)
Rick Vaive (ex-WHA)
Guy Carbonneau
Craig Hartsburg (ex-WHA)
Paul Reinhardt
Brian Propp
Pelle Lindbergh
Dale Hunter
Neal Broten
John Ogrodnick
Anton Stastny
Thomas Steen

1980

Denis Savard
Larry Murphy
Paul Coffey
Jari Kurri
Bernie Nicholls
Also:
Brent Sutter
Barry Pederson
Steve Larmer
Andy Moog
Hakan Loob

1981

Dale Hawerchuk
Ron Francis
Al MacInnis
Grant Fuhr
Chris Chelios
(Adam Oates would have been drafted this year)
Also:
Mike Vernon

1982
Doug Gilmour
Scott Stevens
Also:
Brian Bellows
Phil Housley
Tomas Sandstrom
Pat Verbeek
Ray Ferraro
Ron Hextall
Tony Granato

1983

Pat Lafontaine
Steve Yzerman
Cam Neely
Also:
Tom Barrasso
Claude Lemieux
Esa Tikkanen
Petr Klima
Kevin Stevens
Rick Tocchet

1984

Mario Lemieux
Patrick Roy
Brett Hull
Luc Robitaille
Also:
Kirk Muller
Gary Roberts
Stephane Richer
Gary Suter


In particular, 1979 to 1981 seems a rich period for teenage talent. After the guys at the very top, 1982, 1983, and 1984 seem to have a bit less depth of talent but still a solid core of super-elites.

Did some demographic shift occur that led to this wealth of talent emerging, esp. circa 1979? Was it the increase of Americans and Europeans? The collapse of the WHA? Or am I just imagining something that didn't really exist?

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[Vujtek]

Well the draft age was lowered from 20 to 19 (and to include 18 year olds that played in WHA the previous season, e.g. Messier) in 1979 so that meant there was a lot bigger talent pool available that year. Of the players you listed only Bourque, Messier and Gartner (and Gretzky too) were really first year eligibles if the rules had been same in previous years too. And in 1980 the draft age was further lowered to include 18 year olds so there were bigger pool available for that year too (Brent Sutter for example was drafted as an 18 year old that year while players like Coffey and Murphy were 19 year olds). So those 1979 and 1980 drafts had more talent due to talent pools being bigger for those years because of changes to draft ages.

 

[The Panther]

Well the draft age was lowered from 20 to 19 (and to include 18 year olds that played in WHA the previous season, e.g. Messier) in 1979 so that meant there was a lot bigger talent pool available that year. Of the players you listed only Bourque, Messier and Gartner (and Gretzky too) were really first year eligibles if the rules had been same in previous years too. And in 1980 the draft age was further lowered to include 18 year olds so there were bigger pool available for that year too (Brent Sutter for example was drafted as an 18 year old that year while players like Coffey and Murphy were 19 year olds). So those 1979 and 1980 drafts had more talent due to talent pools being bigger for those years because of changes to draft ages.

Okay, thanks. That does seem to explain it.

Actually, I had no idea that 18-year-olds weren't allowed until 1980 (I mean, I didn't know that only 18-year-old ex-WHAers were allowed to be drafted in 1979... that makes a lot of sense now that I think about it).

 

[danincanada]

On top of the draft age changes this was also near the height of the baby boom. Those players were born between 1960 and 1965, when birth rates in Canada were nearly 500,000 per year. Between ‘52 and ‘60 there were similar birth rates in Canada though so that doesn’t explain it all.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Population size with all its variations is never a factor, demonstrated and explained many times before especially by Bill James.

18 year olds were eligible as early the 1974 draft as well.

Three major reasons.

Arena construction boom in the post WWII era peaked in the 1960s and 1970s providing a longer and more intensive hockey season. Hockey for youngsters grew from a 90 day window to a year round activity especially with the summer Hockey School phenomena exploding.

Better coaching, structured teaching programs for coaches backed by the CAHA emerged and exploded.

With expansion and the WHA, hockey became a viable career alternative world wide.

 

[Vujtek]

18 year olds were eligible as early the 1974 draft as well.

True but that was only in place for that year and they raised it back to 20 year olds for 1975 draft. So between 1967 and 1978 only in one year (and then only during the first two rounds) were it allowed to draft 18/19 year olds. That one draft though allowed for example the drafting of Bryan Trottier as an 18 year old and he was then a year later able to start his NHL career as a 19 year old.

Before 1967 the draft age was also 18 and in 1963 and 1964 even 16.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

I'd add that playing and/or peaking in a high offense era adds an extra shine to some of their numbers.