I think you need to look at the timing of those picks too, suter, nieuwy, and hull came from the american college system before it was really recognized as a place that could develop stars.
Titov, Makrov, hoglund were all soft European "gambles" (think of how detroit took all those soviets back then too, teams didn't want to take chances like that with their picks on players who might not even come over)
Fleury... I dunno...
still it's like taking russian guy today who might not pan out considering his development in the KHL, I think it had a lot to do with the perception of development in different leagues back then
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