deepbluejacket
Verified Trader,
The gimmick here is to look at rookie cards that are basically worth nothing but COULD have been worth something if misfortune hadn't intervened. You may know the names, but do you know the cards?
Doug Wickenheiser - 1981-82 OPC #193
In 1980, Montreal found itself with the first overall pick in the entry draft.
Wait a minute, how did Montreal have the first overall pick? Weren't they coming off a dynasty?
Yes, but in 1976, GM Sam Pollock convinced his counterpart of the recently relocated Colorado Rockies to agree to exchange first round picks in 1980 in exchange for two useless minor leaguers.
What?! And the NHL was okay with this?!
The NHL was perfectly okay with established teams pillaging the newer ones.
Very well. Proceed.
So the Habs had a choice to make - highly touted WHLer Doug Wickenheiser (170 points in 71 games) or native hero Denis Savard (181 points in 72 games.) They chose Doug, and the rest is very bad history. Angry Habs fans rode him mercilessly as Savard blossomed into an immediate superstar in Chicago. Wickenheiser was poised to break out, but a car accident impeded his progress. At this point, Montreal decided a clean break was needed and shipped him to St. Louis, where he began a run of solid contributions, but nothing approaching his early promise.
Ultimately, even if he had achieved early greatness, his career may have still ended prematurely due to cancer. But in an alternate universe, he was a steady 100 point player throughout the 1980s. That puts his RC value at around $20-$25, similar to fellow stars Savard and Peter Stastny.
Barry Pederson - 1982-83 OPC #20
Drafted in the first round in 1980, Pederson failed to beat out fellow rookie Steve Kasper for the last centerman's job for the 1980-81 season and returned to Victoria. By the end of 1982, he was Boston's #1 center. He finished the season with 92 points, concluding the season with an exclamation point - a 7 point outburst against Hartford, a record he remains tied for: most points in one game by a Bruin. Terry O'Reilly said that if Pederson had been employed as a top line forward out of training camp, he'd have beaten out Hawerchuk for the Calder.
Pederson followed up with 107 and 116 point seasons, finishing top 10 in scoring each year. And then things went awry. A tumor was discovered in his shoulder, and to remove it, it required the loss of muscle. He returned to the NHL with a serious case of the Joe Thorntons - he stopped shooting, always looking for the pass. Sensing he would never regain his scoring touch, Boston traded him to Vancouver for a 1st round pick (Glen Wesley) and Cam Neely.
Pederson had a few respectable seasons with Vancouver and was a depth forward for the Penguins, where he won his Stanley Cup from the press box. He retired in 1992, even though expansion could have kept him in the league for years to come, albeit in more of a late career Wes Walz role.
Had Pederson maintained his scoring prowess, he may have had a career rivaling that of Dale Hawerchuk and Ron Francis. And he'd be worth about $20, as the '82-83 set is heavily produced.
Gord Kluzak - 1983-84 OPC #51
In 1982, Boston found itself with the first overall pick in the entry draft.
Wait a minute, how did Boston have the first overall pick? Weren't they an annual power?
Yes, but you see there was a complicated exchange of draft picks...
...with Colorado...
Yes, you see the NHL was perfectly okay with established teams pillaging the newer ones.
Say no more.
Despite already having Ray Bourque, Boston decided to really load up on the blueline and bring in Kluzak, a 6'4" beast who could both score and fight. Kluzak had a somewhat pedestrian rookie season playing behind Bourque, the legendary Brad Park, and a very capable offensive player called Mike O'Connell (check his stats - they will surprise you). By his second season, Kluzak emerged as the twin threat with ten goals, 37 points, and 135 PIMs.
Then his knee got blown up. And then the other one.
Sidenote: I was in attendance when one of his knees got blown up! It was an exhibition game at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine against the Devils. I believe it was Dave Lewis who did him in, although I can not confirm it.
Kluzak gave it all he could to come back and managed to have one more fine season as the Bruins ran to the Stanley Cup final in 1988. But after that, he never played double digit games again. He won the Masterson in 1990 for his dedication.
Boston took Kluzak #1, while Washington took Scott Stevens at #5 and Buffalo grabbed Phil Housley at #6. Had Kluzak stayed healthy, he could be a $10 card like his brethren.
Sylvain Turgeon - 1984-85 OPC #79
Turgeon - forever mispronounced by my French-Canadian grandfather as "Turgeron" - put up 54 goals and 163 points in the Q before Hartford selected him 2nd overall in the 1983 entry draft. He was an immediate 40 goal man, and scored 116 goals in his first three seasons.
And then - stop me if you've heard this before - he got hurt. An abdominal injury hobbled him in the 1986-87 season, where he managed only 41 games (though still scoring 23 times.) He would never crack 50 points again. Despite the falling production, many teams thought they could get him to rediscover his old touch. The Devils sacrificed Pat Verbeek for him. Montreal surrendered Claude Lemieux. All for naught.
He finished his career with the expansion Senators where he put up a respectable 25 goals in 1992-93 despite there being no top six center in the roster to feed him. (Apologies to Jamie Baker and Mark Lamb, but...come on.) Although in a few alternate universes I scoured, the Senators managed to coax Barry Pederson to join them, and the Pederson-Turgeon combo made Sens fans feel like it was 1983 all over again...even though it resulted in only 23 wins. Still...better than 10!
Had Turgeon stayed healthy, perhaps he would have rivaled the #3 pick Pat Lafontaine. But it may have been too much to expect him to match the #4 pick - Steve Yzerman. The 1984 set is all over the place in terms of price despite the very high quality of its rookie class, so I wouldn't guess him to be much more than $20 seeing as he would have been toiling in Hartford.
As for the #1 pick in the 1983 draft, I've found no alternate dimension where drafting Brian Lawton worked out for anyone.
Mike
Doug Wickenheiser - 1981-82 OPC #193
In 1980, Montreal found itself with the first overall pick in the entry draft.
Wait a minute, how did Montreal have the first overall pick? Weren't they coming off a dynasty?
Yes, but in 1976, GM Sam Pollock convinced his counterpart of the recently relocated Colorado Rockies to agree to exchange first round picks in 1980 in exchange for two useless minor leaguers.
What?! And the NHL was okay with this?!
The NHL was perfectly okay with established teams pillaging the newer ones.
Very well. Proceed.
So the Habs had a choice to make - highly touted WHLer Doug Wickenheiser (170 points in 71 games) or native hero Denis Savard (181 points in 72 games.) They chose Doug, and the rest is very bad history. Angry Habs fans rode him mercilessly as Savard blossomed into an immediate superstar in Chicago. Wickenheiser was poised to break out, but a car accident impeded his progress. At this point, Montreal decided a clean break was needed and shipped him to St. Louis, where he began a run of solid contributions, but nothing approaching his early promise.
Ultimately, even if he had achieved early greatness, his career may have still ended prematurely due to cancer. But in an alternate universe, he was a steady 100 point player throughout the 1980s. That puts his RC value at around $20-$25, similar to fellow stars Savard and Peter Stastny.
Barry Pederson - 1982-83 OPC #20
Drafted in the first round in 1980, Pederson failed to beat out fellow rookie Steve Kasper for the last centerman's job for the 1980-81 season and returned to Victoria. By the end of 1982, he was Boston's #1 center. He finished the season with 92 points, concluding the season with an exclamation point - a 7 point outburst against Hartford, a record he remains tied for: most points in one game by a Bruin. Terry O'Reilly said that if Pederson had been employed as a top line forward out of training camp, he'd have beaten out Hawerchuk for the Calder.
Pederson followed up with 107 and 116 point seasons, finishing top 10 in scoring each year. And then things went awry. A tumor was discovered in his shoulder, and to remove it, it required the loss of muscle. He returned to the NHL with a serious case of the Joe Thorntons - he stopped shooting, always looking for the pass. Sensing he would never regain his scoring touch, Boston traded him to Vancouver for a 1st round pick (Glen Wesley) and Cam Neely.
Pederson had a few respectable seasons with Vancouver and was a depth forward for the Penguins, where he won his Stanley Cup from the press box. He retired in 1992, even though expansion could have kept him in the league for years to come, albeit in more of a late career Wes Walz role.
Had Pederson maintained his scoring prowess, he may have had a career rivaling that of Dale Hawerchuk and Ron Francis. And he'd be worth about $20, as the '82-83 set is heavily produced.
Gord Kluzak - 1983-84 OPC #51
In 1982, Boston found itself with the first overall pick in the entry draft.
Wait a minute, how did Boston have the first overall pick? Weren't they an annual power?
Yes, but you see there was a complicated exchange of draft picks...
...with Colorado...
Yes, you see the NHL was perfectly okay with established teams pillaging the newer ones.
Say no more.
Despite already having Ray Bourque, Boston decided to really load up on the blueline and bring in Kluzak, a 6'4" beast who could both score and fight. Kluzak had a somewhat pedestrian rookie season playing behind Bourque, the legendary Brad Park, and a very capable offensive player called Mike O'Connell (check his stats - they will surprise you). By his second season, Kluzak emerged as the twin threat with ten goals, 37 points, and 135 PIMs.
Then his knee got blown up. And then the other one.
Sidenote: I was in attendance when one of his knees got blown up! It was an exhibition game at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine against the Devils. I believe it was Dave Lewis who did him in, although I can not confirm it.
Kluzak gave it all he could to come back and managed to have one more fine season as the Bruins ran to the Stanley Cup final in 1988. But after that, he never played double digit games again. He won the Masterson in 1990 for his dedication.
Boston took Kluzak #1, while Washington took Scott Stevens at #5 and Buffalo grabbed Phil Housley at #6. Had Kluzak stayed healthy, he could be a $10 card like his brethren.
Sylvain Turgeon - 1984-85 OPC #79
Turgeon - forever mispronounced by my French-Canadian grandfather as "Turgeron" - put up 54 goals and 163 points in the Q before Hartford selected him 2nd overall in the 1983 entry draft. He was an immediate 40 goal man, and scored 116 goals in his first three seasons.
And then - stop me if you've heard this before - he got hurt. An abdominal injury hobbled him in the 1986-87 season, where he managed only 41 games (though still scoring 23 times.) He would never crack 50 points again. Despite the falling production, many teams thought they could get him to rediscover his old touch. The Devils sacrificed Pat Verbeek for him. Montreal surrendered Claude Lemieux. All for naught.
He finished his career with the expansion Senators where he put up a respectable 25 goals in 1992-93 despite there being no top six center in the roster to feed him. (Apologies to Jamie Baker and Mark Lamb, but...come on.) Although in a few alternate universes I scoured, the Senators managed to coax Barry Pederson to join them, and the Pederson-Turgeon combo made Sens fans feel like it was 1983 all over again...even though it resulted in only 23 wins. Still...better than 10!
Had Turgeon stayed healthy, perhaps he would have rivaled the #3 pick Pat Lafontaine. But it may have been too much to expect him to match the #4 pick - Steve Yzerman. The 1984 set is all over the place in terms of price despite the very high quality of its rookie class, so I wouldn't guess him to be much more than $20 seeing as he would have been toiling in Hartford.
As for the #1 pick in the 1983 draft, I've found no alternate dimension where drafting Brian Lawton worked out for anyone.
Mike
