The best and worst draft classes of the 1980s
Like most teams in the history of the NHL Entry Draft, the New York Rangers have scored big in some and missed badly in others. Here are the best and worst Rangers’ draft classes of the 1980s.
Which best determines the quality of a New York Rangers’ draft class? Filling several needs? Getting a superstar? Acquiring several serviceable players but nobody elite? The performance of players subsequently drafted by other teams?
For this piece, all of the above.
The work the Rangers did in this decade, both in the draft and through trades, set the foundation for the 1994 team that ended the franchise’s Stanley Cup championship drought at 54 years and extinguished the chants of “Nineteen-forty!” forever.
Two players drafted by the Blueshirts in this decade became franchise pillars.
Other selections were traded for playoff warriors who possessed the tenacity, the wisdom, the selflessness, the poise, and the confidence that any team needs to make a deep playoff run, let alone end championship drought of more than five decades.
Here’s a look back.
Best: Class of 1986
Standouts
Brian Leetch (1st round, 9th overall, defense)
Darren Turcotte (6th round, 114th overall, forward)
Notable
Mark Janssens (4th round, 72nd overall, forward)
Analysis
Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, especially those old enough to remember, can only wonder what could’ve been had their teams taken Leetch.
He was available.
The Penguins were nearing their 20th NHL birthday and hadn’t won a Stanley Cup, but had secured future Hall of Famer and three-time Hart Trophy winner Mario Lemieux with the No. 1 pick in 1984.
Now, they needed a franchise defenseman. Doug Bodger and Moe Mantha weren’t going to cut it, and they didn’t trade for future Hall of Famer Paul Coffey until November 1987. Thus, armed with the fourth overall pick, Pittsburgh chose Zarley Zalapski.
With the very next selection, Buffalo took defenseman Shawn Anderson, who put up impressive offensive numbers in Quebec’s Midget AAA league and at the University of Maine prior to the draft.
Still, his selection by the Sabres was a curious one.
Buffalo already had a strong defense with future Hall of Famer Phil Housley,1980 Olympic gold medalist Mike Ramsey, Bill Hajt, and Larry Playfair (1,814 career penalty minutes).
Anderson was a bust, splitting time between Buffalo and its American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester. He played in just 255 NHL matches, notching 117 penalty minutes and 62 points.
Zalapski wasn’t bad, posting 130 points in 190 matches for the Pens, but his stay in the Steel City was relatively brief.
On March 4, 1991, Zalapski, center John Cullen and winger Jeff Parker were dealt to the Hartford Whalers for center Ron Francis, and defensemen Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings.
“Ronnie Franchise” left Hartford as the organization’s leader in career points (821), goals (264), assists (577) and games played (714); each remains a Whalers’ record.
To many fans in Connecticut, the date signifies the day NHL hockey in Hartford died.
To Pittsburgh’s fans, “The Trade” propelled the Pens to a Stanley Cup championship that spring, and another the following year.
Had Pittsburgh drafted Leetch, would the trades for Coffey and with Hartford have been necessary? Would the Pens have won more than two Stanley Cups with Leetch?
Would Buffalo still be seeking its first Stanley Cup title had it drafted Leetch?
Fortunately for the Rangers and their fans, those questions will never be answered.
Leetch spent 17 of his 18 NHL seasons with the Rangers, and was among the pillars of the ’94 Stanley Cup-winning team. In 23 playoff games that year, Leetch helped end the Blueshirts’ championship drought at 54 years, leading them in points (34), assists (23) and game-winning scores (4).
Drafted out of Avon Old Farms prep school in Connecticut, Leetch gave the Blueshirts a preview of (what would become) his Hall of Fame career in his first NHL contest with an assist in a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 29, 1988.
On March 24, 1988, Leetch scored his first NHL goal in the opening period of a 6-1 win over Edmonton at the Garden. The tally came against Future Hall of Fame goalie, Grant Fuhr, and gave New York a 2-0 lead. Thus, the first of his 240 Rangers’ goals was the game winner.
By the time he retired in 2006, Leetch was well established among hockey’s greatest players, as well as the record books.
Among all-time NHL defensemen, Leetch ranks:
- 7th in assists (781)
- 8th in points (1,028)
- 10th in goals (247)
Leetch won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 1989, and among all-time freshman defensemen ranks:
- 1st in goals in a season (23 )
- 2nd in points in a season (71)
- 6th (tied with Ray Bourque) in assists in a season (48)
A two-time Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman, Leetch’s career records for the Rangers rank:
- 1st in assists (781)
- 1st in points (981) and goals (240) by a defenseman
- 2nd with 1,129 games played (Harry Howell, 1,160)
- Longest scoring streak (17 games, Nov. 23-Dec. 31, 1991)
In 1992, he set a single-season team record with 80 assists, while his 102 points that year are the most by a Rangers defenseman in season. No other blueliner in franchise history has notched 100 points in one season.
His No. 2 was retired by the Rangers in 2008 and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility.
Leetch’s performance the 1994 postseason earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
It began with eight points in a sweep of the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, in which the Blueshirts destroyed their rivals from Long Island by a combined score of 22-3.
Next, in the conference semifinals versus the Washington Capitals, Leetch had three goals and six assists in New York’s 4-1 series win. Two of his goals were game winners, the second one coming with 3:28 remaining in the third period of Game Five at the Garden, snapping a 3-3 tie (he assisted on the other three goals, for good measure).
In what’s widely considered among the greatest playoff series in NHL history, the Rangers and New Jersey Devils waged an epic battle that went seven games, three of which were decided in double overtime.
Leetch scored just once in the series, but it came in the second period of Game Seven, which the Rangers won, 2-1, on Stephane Matteau’s goal in double overtime.
In the Stanley Cup Finals, Leetch exploded for 11 points in the 4-3 series win. He scored five goals, including three in Vancouver, and one to open the scoring in Game Seven before a raucous crowd at the Garden.
His two goals in Game Three helped the Rangers to a 5-1 win over the host Canucks, who watched helplessly in Game Four as Leetch had a goal and three assists in a 4-2 victory.
After drafting Leetch, the Rangers didn’t pick again until the third round, when they took forwards Bret Walter and Shaun Clouston. Neither played a single NHL shift.
The Blueshirts used their fourth-round pick on the 6-foot-3, 212-pound Janssens. He had 338 penalty minutes and 14 goals for New York before spending the rest of his career mostly with the Whalers.
Meanwhile, Turcotte was a significant pick for two reasons.
First, he produced on Broadway. In 325 games with the Blueshirts, he notched 122 goals and 133 assists for 255 points and boosted the power play with 114 points (47 goals). In 25 playoff matches with New York, he recorded 14 points, including six goals.
The other reason Turcotte’s pick was important? The Rangers were able to package him with defenseman James Patrick in a trade to Hartford that brought forwards Steve Larmer and Nick Kypreos, and blueliner Barry Richter to Broadway in November 1993.
Larmer gave the Rangers exactly what then-head coach Mike Keenan believed they needed more of: poise and production under pressure. In the ’94 playoffs, “Chucky” scored nine goals, four of them in the Finals.
Kypreos, a grinder with an edge, became a member of the club’s Black Aces. Richter (no relation to Mike) played in four games for New York during the 1995-96 season, then became a free agent and signed with the Boston Bruins.