With all of the recent focus on the Chicago Blackhawks winning the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and the subsequent selection of Connor Bedard, it is sometimes easy to forget that there have been quite a few players who have made significant contributions to the success of the Blackhawks franchise that were drafted in the later rounds.
Being drafted by an NHL team does not necessarily mean that player will make a contribution to their team or even play a single game at the NHL level. On average, 49 percent of players who are drafted by an NHL team will make it to the NHL, which means that they play at least one game at the NHL level. While first-round draft picks make the NHL 94 percent of the time, that percentage drops off significantly in the later rounds. For example, a sixth-round draft pick only makes it to the NHL 31 percent of the time.
One former Blackhawk who not only beat these odds to make it to the NHL but also produced outstanding numbers was the sixth-round draft pick of the Blackhawks in 1980, Steve Larmer.
Rookie of the Year Season
The question often posed on social media is if Bedard is going to set a rookie record for scoring, whose record will he have to beat? While many believe the answer might be Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Jeremy Roenick, or even the third overall pick for the Hawks in 1980, Denis Savard, the correct answer is Steve Larmer. During the 1982-83 season, the native of Peterborough, Ontario, established rookie records for the franchise that still stands today with 90 points and 43 goals, which earned him the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year.
As an interesting side note to this accomplishment, Larmer was part of a major mix-up by a hockey trading card company. Forty years ago, they did not issue cards for rookies until the following season. For the 1983-84 season, O-Pee-Chee was set to make a rookie card for him, but there was one problem: the picture on the card was not of Larmer. Instead, the company inadvertently used a picture of Steve Ludzik. Fortunately, O-Pee-Chee did not make the same mistake when they made a card celebrating him winning the Calder Trophy.
Hall of Fame Career?
There are many impressive stats that Larmer accumulated while a member of the Blackhawks. One of the more significant ones was during his time with the Blackhawks, they never missed the postseason. In 107 postseason games, he collected 111 points on 45 goals and 66 assists. Overall, in 891 games played for the Hawks, he accrued 923 points on 406 goals and 517 assists. The reliable two-way player was considered somewhat of an “Iron Man” of the time, playing in 884 consecutive games. He may have set the record but chose to sit out because of a contract dispute with Chicago. Those 884 games are the third-longest streak in NHL history and the longest streak with any single team.
One of the bigger debates in Larmer’s career after hockey is whether he is worthy to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, an honor that continues to allude this late-round draft gem. Part of the issue is the age-old debate of “good vs. elite,” a frequent topic in most sports Hall of Fame discussions. This issue also played out during his career, as after winning the Calder Trophy as a rookie, he did not win any other post-season awards, although he was in the running for five Lady Byng Awards, five Selkes, and one Hart Trophy. The other factor that may have played into this was that Larmer played only until he was 33 when an injury forced him to hang up his skates.
Post-Blackhawks Career
Entering the 1993-94 season, Larmer was embroiled in a contract dispute with the Blackhawks. The situation was resolved when the team traded him to the New York Rangers. While it was a major disappointment for Blackhawks fans, it was personally good for Larmer as he went on to win the Stanley Cup with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, in addition to scoring his 1,000 career point during that season. The Rangers knew what kind of player and person they were getting in Larmer, as they made him an alternate captain during his two-season stay with the Blueshirts.
This was not the first time that Larmer and Gretzky were teammates. He was a part of Canada’s 1991 Canada Cup team, where he led the tournament with six goals and finished one point behind Gretzky with 11 points. Larmer also helped Canada to a silver medal at the World Championship that year, scoring five goals and three assists in 10 games. In all, Larmer scored 441 goals with 571 assists to give him 1,012 points in the 1,006 games played in the NHL. Outstanding numbers and a career, especially for someone drafted in the sixth round.
Related: Bobby Orr’s Brief Stint with the Chicago Blackhawks
While Bedard may eventually lead the Blackhawks back to the Stanley Cup, in doing so, they will need other players to also contribute to that effort. Some of the players could include those who were drafted in the later rounds, much in the way that the former sixth-round draft pick Larmer did for the Hawks throughout the 1980s.
