1992 draft in hindsight

[LeMAD]

Hey guys, I'm working on ratings for a fantasy league and we will be doing the 1992 draft in the next few weeks and I wanted your opinion on how you would rank the top players in the entire draft based on how good they were during their careers.

I was thinking of something like this:

1. Khabibulin
2. Gonchar
3. Yashin
4. Hamrlik
5. Lehtinen
6. Peca
7. Stillman
8. Straka
9. J. Smith
10.Aucoin
11.Norstrom
12.Svehla
13.Maltby
14.Laperrière
15.Brylin
16.Rivet
17.Fernandez
18.B. Mironov
19.D. McCarthy
20.Kasparaitis
21.Rathje
22.Marshall
23.Yelle
24.Carter
25.Barnaby
26.Korolev
27.V. Bure
28.Hoglund
29.Ragnarsson
30.Zholtok

other notables: Matthias Timander, Rem Murray, Derek Armstrong, Eric Cairns, Cale Hulse, Andrei Nikolishin, Dan McGillis, Cory Cross, Sergei Krivokrasov, Andrei Nazarov, Jeff Shantz

And if you know some of those players well, I'm also looking for the type of players they were/are. I have a good idea about it but some of them are lesser known.

I did a top-30 but do as you like, your opinon will help me.

thanks in advance

 

[Canadiens1958]

Weak Draft

Could well be the weakest draft in history.At best two very borderline HHOF possibilities - Gonchar and Khabibulin.

 

[DoMakc]

Could well be the weakest draft in history.At best two very borderline HHOF possibilities - Gonchar and Khabibulin.

I'd take Jere Lehtinen over both of them, if somebody from this draft is going to HHOF then him.

 

[Sore Loser]

I'd take Jere Lehtinen over both of them, if somebody from this draft is going to HHOF then him.

Good one!

 

[captain AARON MAIDEN*]

Kasparaitis, Svehla, Norstrom

nice draft

 

[JaysCyYoung]

1992 was a draft that is lacking both in top-echelon talent and in depth. What a terrible series of picks.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Man that is a terrible draft, there's not even one seemingly elite talent on that list.

I'd personally move Norstrom, at the very least, behind Peca.

 

[LeMAD]

Not much elite talent, but the depth is decent imo. A lot of the drafts in the 90s weren't better than this one.

 

[Qvist]

True, there's been considerably worse drafts than 92. Quite a few good players, if not too much elite talent.

List: Laperriere is way too high, Kasparaitis way too low (should be top 10), in my opinion.

cheers

 

[collapsethelung]

Man that is a terrible draft, there's not even one seemingly elite talent on that list.

I'd personally move Norstrom, at the very least, behind Peca.

Well... to his credit, Yashin was an immensely talented player. Elite talent. It's the other stuff (heart, drive, determination) that he was lacking/lacks.

 

[IBLeaf*]

Man I miss Svehla...

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

Well, all the guys in the top 10 were pretty solid hockey players. We must remember Yashin, even in his last season on the Isle, was a very talented player. Jason Smith was also a great Dman

Marty Straka? Sure, he benefited from playing in Pittsburgh but that guy was a tremendous worker out there.

Peca was a selke finalists, great player in his prime. Khabby, obviously, won a cup and showed he's still got it.

Man that is a terrible draft, there's not even one seemingly elite talent on that list.
I'd personally move Norstrom, at the very least, behind Peca.

Gonchar? Yashin?!

Could well be the weakest draft in history.At best two very borderline HHOF possibilities - Gonchar and Khabibulin.

I think we're selling this draft short. 1999 wasn't exactly a superstar explosion. Outside of the Sedins, Zetterberg, Havlat, Connolly, Boyton, Commodore, Comrie, Malone, Miller, Erat... there isn't much to show for that draft. Sure, we have decent NHL players... but those are the standouts

 

[JaysCyYoung]

1996 remains the worst draft of all-time. It was just pitifully bad when one looks at the first round.

Taken from HockeyDB (all-stars denoted in italics):

1 1 Ottawa Chris Phillips D Prince Albert Raiders [WHL]
1 2 San Jose Andrei Zyuzin D Salavat Yulajev (Russia)
1 3 NY Islanders J.P. Dumont R Val d'Or Foreurs [QMJHL]
1 4 Washington Alexandre Volchkov R Barrie Colts [OHL]
1 5 Dallas Richard Jackman D Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds [OHL]
1 6 Edmonton Boyd Devereaux C Kitchener Rangers [OHL]
1 7 Buffalo Erik Rasmussen C U. of Minnesota [NCAA]
1 8 Boston Johnathan Aitken D Medicine Hat Tigers [WHL]
1 9 Anaheim Ruslan Salei D Las Vegas Thunder [IHL]
1 10 New Jersey Lance Ward D Red Deer Rebels [WHL]
1 11 Phoenix Dan Focht D Tri-City Americans [WHL]
1 12 Vancouver Josh Holden C Regina Pats [WHL]
1 13 Calgary Derek Morris D Regina Pats [WHL]
1 14 St. Louis Marty Reasoner C Boston College [NCAA]
1 15 Philadelphia Dainius Zubrus C Pembroke (COJHL)
1 16 Tampa Bay Mario Larocque D Hull Olympiques [QMJHL]
1 17 Washington Jaroslav Svejkovsky L Tri-City Americans [WHL]
1 18 Mtl. Canadiens Matt Higgins C Moose Jaw Warriors [WHL]
1 19 Edmonton Matthieu Descoteaux D Shawinigan Cataractes [QMJHL]
1 20 Florida Marcus Nilson R Djurgardens IF Stockholm [SEL]
1 21 San Jose Marco Sturm C Landshut EV [DEL]
1 22 NY Rangers Jeff Brown D Sarnia Sting [OHL]
1 23 Pittsburgh Craig Hillier G Ottawa 67's [OHL]
1 24 Phoenix Daniel Briere C Drummondville Voltigeurs [QMJHL]
1 25 Colorado Peter Ratchuk D Shattuck St. Mary's [Minn.]
1 26 Detroit Jesse Wallin D Red Deer Rebels [WHL]

Phillips has turned into a solid if not unspectacular top-four blueliner with Ottawa, but not the franchise defenceman that he was projected to become. Zyuzin was a massive disappointment, especially considering he was projected to bring tremendous offence to the table (much like Tverdovsky taken two years before at #2). Dumont became a dependable second-line scorer throughout much of his career but has yet to establish himself as a first-line player. Volchkov ranks up there with some of the biggest busts of all-time playing in but four NHL games and recording no points. Sturm has turned into a solid twenty-goal scorer and was an all-star in 1999. His pick came from no where as he was considered a second or third rounder in many circles (but he did begin the Sharks strong ties to Germany -- Goc, Ehrhoff to follow). Briere is arguably the best player from that round, having turned in a 95 point season and multiple PPG+ campaigns. Zdeno Chara was the best player in the draft, taken in the third round by the Isles. The best player in the draft after Big Z was Tomas Kaberle, being taken in the middle of the eighth round (204th overall).

It was just a terrible draft all-around. Look at how many busts there were in the first round.

Other notables include:

Ruslan Salei at 9.
Derek Morris at 13 (having been ranked in the 50s by CSS amongst North American skaters previously).
Cory Sarich at 27.
Matt Cullen at 35.
Steve Begin at 40.
Jan Bulis at 43.
Mathieu Garon at 44.
Colin White at 49.
Tom Poti at 59.
Oleg Kvasha at 65.
Arron Asham at 71.
Mark Parrish at 79.
Tony Lydman at 89
Eric Belanger at 96.
Michal Roszival at 105.
Andreas Dackell at 136.
Dan Hinote at 167.
Trevor Letowski at 174.
Samuel Pahlsson at 176.
Pavel Kubina at 179.
Fernando Pisani at 195.
Willie Mitchell at 199.
Sami Salo at 239 (third last pick of the draft).

Only six players in the draft have appeared in an all-star game and there are no projected Hall of Famers (beyond possibly Chara who still needs several more elite seasons for consideration).

 

[scoutman1]

so weird to see Craig Hillier up there as the top goalie for the draft, he is an assisstant coach with the Dartmouth Subways Major Midget Squad, with Jason Trioini leaving as head coach im not sure if he will be head coach or not.

 

[LeMAD]

Thanks to those who helped me, but I could use some more comments on my list please.

 

[Spamhuis]

all time I'd take gonchar or peca at #1. Aucoin should be higher. Yashin is fine at #3.

 

[reffree]

Always difficult to make that kind of list ...
here's a try ...

1 Sergei Gonchar
2 Nikolai Khabibulin
3 Alexei Yashin
4 Roman Hamrlik
5 Mike Peca
6 Martin Straka
7 Mattias Nordstrom
8 Corey Stilman
9 Robert Svelha
10 Jere Lethinen
11 Darius Kasparaitis
12 Jason Smith
13 Mike Rathje
14 Boris Mironov
15 Craig Rivet
16 Adrian Aucoin
17 Sergei Brylin
18 Anson Carter
19 Marcus Ragnarsson
20 Valeri Bure
21 Daniel Mcgilis
22 Daren Mccarty
23 Igor Korolev
24 Ian Laperrière
25 Kirk Maltby
26 Stephane Yelle
27 Mattew Barnaby
28 Sergei Zholtok
29 Jonas Hoglund
30 Jeff Shantz
31 Grant Marshall
32 Rem Murray
33 Mattias Timander
34 Corey Cross
35 Andrei Nikolishin
36 Derek Armstrong
37 Cale Hulse

With Manny Fernandez and Jim Carrey in somewhere, Fernandez beign more durable but nothing more than a 30-40 game starter and Carrey's carrer being brief but amazing ...

If I redoo this list toomorow I'm sure I'd make alot of change so take it with a graint of salt.

 

[SP]

I'd take Jere Lehtinen over both of them, if somebody from this draft is going to HHOF then him.

Clearly not a very popular opinion, but I'd agree with you. He'd definitely be in my top 3 with Khabibulin and Gonchar, but if I had the first pick with hindsight, I think I'd take Lehtinen.

Bulin's had a very inconsistent career, and while Gonchar was always a very good offensive defenseman, he really only became a complete, #1 type guy over the last few years.

Lehtinen's a three time Selke winner with great leadership, and can play in all situations. Not as flashy as the first two, obviously, but he's the guy I want if I'm looking for a cup.