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2nd Overall Pick history- The 80s |
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With the talk in Winnipeg all about the potential of who the second overall NHL entry draft pick could be and what they could become- perhaps it’s time to review notable and not so notable second picks from the draft.
The NHL draft changed from the amateur draft to the entry draft in 1979 and that’s where this historical review will begin.
1979
The St. Louis Blues took Perry Turnbull right after the Rockies had taken Rob Ramage. Turnbull had reasonable career lasting until his final season of 87-88 with 351 points in 608 games. Perhaps his PIMs were his real legacy with 1245 in his career, almost 2 minutes a game. Take after Turnbull? Oh Mike Foligno, Gartner, Vaive, Ray Bourque, Brian Propp, Brad McCrimmon, Michel Goulet and Kevin Lowe.
1980
This year Montreal had the first overall pick and here Winnipeg had the second. This year was a case of Winnipeg certainly coming out on top compared to the Habs who took Doug Wickenheiser first and his 556 NHL games. The WHA merged Jets took Dave Babych second who had a career spanning 1195 games for several NHL teams. While a good pick based on his career many Jets fans would have preferred the player taken next, Denis Savard. Other notables after Babych were Larry Murphy, Paul Coffey, and Brent Sutter.
1981
The Jets did not get any better the next season after taking Babych and they had the first pick and selected hall of famer Dale Hawerchuk first. The second pick though went to LA and they took Doug Smith from the Ottawa 67’s. In 535 games Smith had 253 points by his last season of 89-90. After Smith though was a player often forgotten who went to the Capitals, Bobby Carpenter who played 1178 games having 728 points. Other notables in the first round were: Ron Francis, Grant Fuhr, James Patrick, Al MacInnis, and Garth Butcher.
1982
This year is similar to 1980 where the first pick was clearly not the best player taken. If you can remember Gord Kluzak then you are one of the most dedicated Bruins fans as they have probably tried to forget his paltry 299 games 123 points. The big benefactor were the Minnesota North Stars who took Brian Bellows second overall. After Bellows the order went like this: Gary Nylund, Ron Sutter, Scott Stevens, and Phil Housley. Now from a Jets perspective they took Jim Kyte with the 12th pick who played 598 games but had a whopping 66 points as a defenseman. After Kyte players such as Andreychuk, Craven and Daneyko were available and taken.
1983
This draft when looked back on is a bit of an anomaly, at least when looked at historically. Only one of the first three picks had significant career, one that was cut short as well. That was Pat Lafontaine who went third overall. First was Brian Lawton who only managed 483 games and the second pick when to the Hartford Whalers. They took Sylvain Turgeon. Not a bad pick who played 669 games accumulating 495 points but look further down that list and begin to wonder. Taken 4th was Steve Yzerman and after him: Barrasso, the original Die Hard John McLean, Russ Courtnall, Dave Gagner, and Cam Neely. The Jets had two picks in that first round, they took Andrew McBain 8th and then Bobby Dollas 14th.
1984
By now the Gretzky phenomenon was in full force and every NHL team saw the potential to land a generational talent and this year there was a consensus one- Mario Lemieux. No team has ever done more to get that player than the Penguins as there was only one sure way to do that- finish dead last. They weren’t just tanking, they were like ships trying to hit ice bergs in the North Atlantic. Overshadowed in the Lemieux hype was the second pick belonging to New Jersey. They landed a pretty good player in Kirk Muller playing 1349 games for 959 points. This was a good class though with other notable first round picks being: Olczyk, Iafrate, Svoboda, Bodger, Corson, Daigneault, Roberts, and Hatcher. The Jets did not have a first round pick that year and took Peter Douris in the second round.
1985
As noted so many times in the last week the Maple Leafs had the the first overall pick and took Wendell Clark a perennial fan favourite to this day. However it was the slightly improved Penguins who had the second pick who took Craig Simpson. He had a decent enough career with 497 points in 634 games but he may be more noted as a broadcaster and less than faithful husband depending on what is to believed about his relationship with figure skater Jamie Sale. While the top picks this year where not awful, when it comes to playing careers it took much further down the draft to find longevity. Manson and Johansson were the only two first round pick to play over 1000 games in this draft. As for the Jets, they took Ryan Stewart with the 18th pick- he played just 3 NHL games.
1986
This draft was a bit like the one the year before, some quality players taken but not a lot of longevity to the careers. The first pick belonged too Detroit who took Joe Murphy who had a playing career of 779 games and 528 points. The second pick went to LA who took Jimmy Carson who had a 561 points in 626 games. The beginning through middle of his career from LA through Detroit was great but he faded as time caught up to him. The third pick belonging to New Jersey is where things really fell flat, they took Neil Brady who had just 89 NHL games. Other notable in the first round were: Zalapski, Damphousse, Leetch, Scott Young, Janney, and Fitzgerald, The Jets, they took a player by the name of Pat Elynuik 8th right before the Rangers took Leetch.
1987
By now the pendulum had fully switched to Oilers dynasty from the east after a break allowing the Canadiens to take the cup in 1986. Buffalo however was still awful and had the first overall pick taking Pierre Trugeon. The Devils had the second pick and took a player one could argue that could have been the first pick in Brendan Shanahan. While Turgeon was over a point per game player in his 1294 games Shanahan was not far behind with 1354 points in 1524 games. The third pick was Glen Wesley courtesy of the Canucks in the trade that sent Neely to Boston for Barry Pedersen. A quick drop happened with Chris Jospeh (not Cujo) being the 5th pick before some later picks like Richardson, Quintal, Sakic (15th!) and Cassels. The Jets had the pick right after the Nordiques and after missing out on Sakic they took some one who could be labelled the dirtiest player in NHL history, Bryan Marchment. If you need a sampling of his work just search his name in Youttube.
1988
The Canucks had the second pick this year right after the North Stars. They took their first player who could be considered a ‘franchise player’ since they joined the league in 1970 in Trevor Linden. He was a decent consolation after Modano was gone but not quite the offensive threat that Modano was. That year had some significant talent in the first round with Gelinas, Roenick, and Brind’Amour going after. However none of those players compared to who the Jets took with the 10th pick in Teemu Selanne. Who would think that after his rookie campaign a few years later the team would be forced to trade him and soon relocate to Phoenix. What is interesting to note in that draft is the 4th round had Amonte, Recchi, Blake and Carny taken for over 5000 combined games played.
1989
This year, the last of the 80’s, has one of the most lopsided pick differences taken. The Islanders had the second pick and took Dave Chyzowski right after the Nordiques tool Mats Sundin. The Leafs took Scott Thornton next and Winnipeg had the 4th overall pick. They took Stu Barnes, the original Stuuuuu. While Barnes had a decent career playing 1136 games he only had 597 points and did not quite live up to the promise of that pick position. Notables who came after were Guerin, next pick, Holik, Sillinger, and Kolzig. This draft really stands out for the the many swings and whiffs by GMs until the 5th round when Detroit stepped up and took a defenceman from Sweden named Nik Lidstrom. You know how that worked out.
The interesting thing from this historical review where the Jets are concerned is how often the missed on decent talent in the draft. Something the Thrashers are criticized for here in Winnipeg. The drafting in the later rounds was abysmal and it explains how the franchise could never rise up and contend in the Smythe. Sure it was tough with the Oilers but the Jets missed on some of their picked players too and Calgary found a way to do it with good later round moves. I wond’t even get into the Canucks as that’s a Shakespearean tragedy.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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