Vancouver Canucks 1986 NHL Draft Retrospective

The Canuck Way continues to look at how the Vancouver Canucks have done in the NHL Draft. Today, we look at the 1986 NHL Draft.

Well, the Canucks continued to not have very much success in the draft. While Vancouver would draft five players that would go on to play in the NHL, but only one of them would play more than 61 games. That’s just sad, I don’t know how there is any other way you could describe it.

Lets take a look at the Canucks picks.

[table id=5 /]

Can you say first-round bust? I know, there are first-round picks that don’t end up playing well, but to be drafted seventh overall and only play five games is nearly criminal. Dan Woodley‘s five games would play those five games in the 1987-88 season. At least he managed to score twice in that time. Don Gibson would top Woodley by nine games and one point, but when you consider the total is still only 14 games and three points, it still doesn’t look good.

Ronnie Stern went on to be the most successful Vancouver pick of 1986. Alas, he would only a short time with the Canucks only playing 97 games over four seasons. 31 games into the 1990-91 season, he would be traded to the Calgary Flames. He would play the rest of that season, as well as the next six with the Flames. He would finish up his career with two seasons playing for the San Jose Sharks, retiring in 2000.

Eric Murano never played in the NHL but became very well-traveled, playing in 12 different hockey leagues. Steve Herniman played in eight different leagues. Jon Helgeson played one season in the American Hockey Association after leaving the University of Wisconsin. Jeff Noble never made it out of the OHL, but played 11 games for the Canadian National Team in 1988-89. Matt Merten played one season in the ECHL after leaving Providence College. Marc Lyons hockey career spanned 10 years, however, there was a three year hiatus after he left in the AHL.

Todd Hawkins 10-game NHL career spanned two teams, the Canucks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He would spend the majority of his career in the IHL, although he also played in the AHL and in Germany.

One year after taking Igor Larionov, the Canucks would select one his Russian linemates from CSKA Moscow in Vladimir Krutov. However, he would not have the lengthy career that Larionov would have, playing only one season with the Canucks (1989-90) and the NHL. He left the Canucks to play in Switzerland before returning to Russia.

Next: Pacific Division Free Agency Outlook

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