What's the best Islanders draft class pre-'79?

agree, it’s not often a team has two HOF’ers in the same draft.

Because if it were Puck Daddy we’d get the usual rips that Jethro wasn’t Hall-worthy. Whatever. All he did was define a position and a rare package of attributes that GMs still salivate over today.

no matter where you’re drafted, playing in over 600 NHL games is pretty impressive, playing on four cup-winning teams more so. Take into account he was also a 14th rounder and the 214th player selected that makes it even more impressive. I was all for 74 before but reminding me of Persson put it over the top.

I would have a hard time picking between Gillies/Trotts, and Bossy/Tonelli. I think Big John is highly underrated. He singe handedly kept the Dynasty alive with his “will to win” alone, scoring a late tying goal and overtime winner in a game the Isles faced elimination. But two key defencemen to the cup years tip the scales for me.

Bob Lorimer is truly an important Islander… but an even more important Islander came out of the third round in 1974… Bob Bourne… and it was like Torrey drafted him, because he gave up nothing for him.
Scribble that on your white board!

Yeah, I think so. This is how I’d rank them
1 – 74
2 – 77
3 – 73
4 – 83
5 – 72
6 – 93

And then the worst draft in Islanders history (IMHO) is 2003… So three of the best six are in years ending in 3, does that mean we’re doomed in the 2013 and 2023 drafts?

I think one of the problems with most of our 90s drafts and beyond is that no one stuck around other then DiPietro.

Just imagine a team anchored by Luongo, Chara, Pre-injury Berard, Jonsson, McCabe, with Palffy, Bertuzzi, Dumont, Jokinen, and countless possibilities upfront (Spezza? Gabronik? Hossa?)

The weakness of our draft classes have to do more with someone not giving the youth chances to grow, as compared to weak classes. It’s hard to say a draft class is good for you when they last one or two seasons before going elsewhere.

All 4 of these really are better. But part of it is due to the rules, the times, the circumstances. Getting Bourne via trade is an example of how the good NHL teams routinely abused the expansion teams of that era. The LaFontaine pick (thanks, Rockies!). Montreal practically built its last dynasty off of valuing picks and taking advantage of expansion teams, who were screwed by the early expansion draft rules.

Torrey and Jimmy D deserve major credit for seeing the value of the draft back then. The ‘90s were still a wild West of sorts, but now it’s inexcusable for a team not to realize the value of the draft, so I think we’re about to see (or are already in) an age of relative draft parity. Certain teams will luck out a little more, but overall there should be few clear winners and losers like there were 40 years ago.

But lots of guys would have taken that walk with Sam Pollock and ended up with a boatload of so-so players for the rights to the first pick. What a scary thought: a Montreal defensive corps of Potvin, Robinson, Savard, Lapointe and Laperriere with Dryden in goal.

You may be right. Boy 1975 was mostly a wasteland.

Having watched and loved both, I always wondered if Brian Sutter could have done what Clark Gillies did if they swapped places. Sutter was good with Federko, but except for one year (Wayne Babych before injuries) never had much on the right wing side.

was that he was strictly a one way player, and that’s why a lot of teams passed on him.

If so … was it worth it? Even though I was only a pup and not even aware until 1982, I tend to think yes.