Which are the greatest NHL Draft classes ever? Some years gave us multiple all-time superstars. Others yielded incredible depth and dozens of long, productive NHL careers. In naming my top five classes, I searched for the years that gave us the best combinations of star power and depth.
I lied. I named six classes. I couldn’t bring myself to cut any of my top six and make it a top five. Each of the classes is simply that good. With that, let’s continue the series with No. 2: the 1984 Draft.
No. 2: The 1984 Draft
Why it’s No. 2: From Mario Lemieux to Patrick Roy to Brett Hull to Luc Robitaille, no class in NHL history yielded more true superstars.
Top scorer: Mario Lemieux, 1,723 points
Hall of Famers: Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille
Other notables: Kirk Muller, Gary Roberts, Gary Suter, Scott Mellanby, Kevin Hatcher, Kirk McLean, Shayne Corson, Cliff Ronning, Stephane Richer, Ed Olcyzk, Al Iafrate, (baseball Hall of Famer) Tom Glavine
It’s hard to believe it started on such a low note. Mario Lemieux was the most dominant major junior player of all time, and the Penguins were thrilled to have the No. 1 pick. But when they called his name at the Montreal Forum, he refused to put on the Penguins jersey, protesting the fact that the contract negotiations were going poorly. They ended up hammering out a deal after the fact, Lemieux scored on his first shift in his first game a few months later and that was that. He went on to a legendary career. He was and still is the only forward ever to rival Wayne Gretzky’s dominance on a per-game basis. On top of the two Stanley Cups and six scoring titles, No. 66 sits a close second behind No. 99 in career points per game.
How amazing is it that we could remove Super Mario from the class of 1984 and it would still be heralded as an all-timer? It yielded a 700-goal scorer and league MVP in Brett Hull; the man who broke most of the left-winger scoring records in Luc Robitaille; and, of course, one of the greatest goalies ever to play, the only three-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Patrick Roy. With great blue-liner Gary Suter also coming in 1984, the draft class amazingly yielded three straight Calder Trophy winners as rookie of the year: Lemieux in 1984-85, Suter in 1985-86 and Robitaille in 1986-87.
The scouts could really hang their hats on 1984’s yield. Early first-round picks such as Kirk Muller, Ed Olcyzk, Al Iafrate and Shayne Corson all went on to long and productive NHL careers, but the late-round batting average was astounding. Hull, Robitaille, Suter, Cliff Ronning and Kirk McLean were each snagged outside the top 100.
1984 top five picks
1. Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Kirk Muller, New Jersey Devils
3. Ed Olcyzk, Chicago Blackhawks
4. Al Iafrate, Toronto Maple Leafs
5. Petr Svoboda, Montreal Canadiens
1984 top five, redrafted (actual spot in brackets)
1. Mario Lemieux (1st)
2. Patrick Roy (51st)
3. Brett Hull (117th)
4. Luc Robitaille (171st)
5. Gary Suter (180th)
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