1982 NHL Draft : The Boston Bruins draft Gord Kuzlak 1st overall
- Thread starter JuJu Mobb
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Kluzak would have been a franchise defender if he stayed healthy. 6'4, skilled, mean. Rob Blake type. There was nothing wrong with the pick at all.
I've mentioned this before here but when you watch games from the 1988 playoffs and Kluzak is basically at the end of his career (at only age 24) and his knees barely work but his size and skill and presence still just absolutely pops.
Doctor Coffin
This may hurt a bit...
- May 23, 2013
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Because the North Stars sent Brad Palmer and Dave Donnelly to the Bruins so that they would not draft Brian Bellows first overall.
vadim sharifijanov
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- Oct 10, 2007
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kluzak was a special talent who was done in by injuries
but my understanding was always that bellows was the real #1 pick
minnesota sent two players to boston for "future considerations” to let bellows fall to them, effectively getting kluzak, brad palmer (former 16OA who had an 8 goal/13 pt finals run as a callup, before putting up 22 goals as a rookie), and dave donnelly (27OA in 1981). both of the guys they got from minny flopped, but on paper that was a good package to pass up bellows.
but my understanding was always that bellows was the real #1 pick
minnesota sent two players to boston for "future considerations” to let bellows fall to them, effectively getting kluzak, brad palmer (former 16OA who had an 8 goal/13 pt finals run as a callup, before putting up 22 goals as a rookie), and dave donnelly (27OA in 1981). both of the guys they got from minny flopped, but on paper that was a good package to pass up bellows.
Doctor Coffin
This may hurt a bit...
- May 23, 2013
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An even more puzzling question is how the Rockies/Devils managed to get suckered out of their first round draft picks for that year AND the following year, in return for the disadvantageous returns that they received in trades with Boston and the Islanders, respectively.
Getting 'Pollocked' was a fairly common thing for bad teams in the 1970s and early 1980s. In the days before UFA it was really hard to turn a corner as a bad team and it was a fairly common thing that desperate GMs of bad teams (LA, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Colorado/NJ) would get suckered when elite teams (Montreal, Boston, Philly) offered them some solid mid-level veteran players in exchange for a 1st round pick 2-3 years down the line. The GM would hope the new players would help the team turn the corner and the pick wouldn't be that high, it never usually happened, and then the powerhouse team would end up with a top-5 pick in the draft to further entrench their dominance and the lack of league parity.
You could make a whole list of deals like this. The last really prominent one of that era was probably the Kurvers-Niedermayer pick swap in 1990.
Doctor Coffin
This may hurt a bit...
- May 23, 2013
- 452
- 179
In the early 1970's, when the whole NHL entry draft thing was newer and expansion teams were desperate for any form of what they perceived as established, quality players - yes. But by 1981, I think the prudence of not trading away one's number one draft picks for a handful of magic beans had been amply demonstrated and proven. Especially when viewing the contemporary (for 1982-era) recent success of the Islanders, Bill Torrey having never been tempted to fritter away his top picks as other GMs of the 1970s were. I guess it just took a special type of Colorado Rockies GM to pull off those deals...much like the Leafs' trade for Kurvers which you noted.
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