I don't think 1997 was ever considered a deep draft but had high quality players at the top. It was one of those dream drafts where you had a big franchise center as the consensus #1 pick (Thornton), a franchise center available at #2 (Marleau), a top European center (Jokinen), and a franchise goalie (Luongo). The only thing missing was a franchise defenseman, although Brewer came pretty close as a prospect.
|