Insight into draft classes and products

[eliteco3]

As a resident football collector I have not followed Hockey into a couple of week ago. It is sensational and I have bought NHL gamecenter to watch it. I am lost on what years of draft classes are the best. Obviously, 05-06 has Crosby and Oveckin and is probably the best. What other years are very strong and which are the weak. Maybe rank the years in terms of best draft classes to worse.

Also, what are some of the best products since 05-06. What are some of the bets sets and year to buy? I love the inight on these boards incredible.

One more question, how do I make a cool avatar like everyone seems to have with custom writing and pictures of players?

[30ranfordfan]

Which year is the best, I suppose it depends on who you like & what your preferences are... and it also depends on how far you want to go back.

2005-06, that's the best rookie class since 1990 (and 1990 cards aren't particularly valuable, making 05-06 the most valuable.... by far.... in the modern era).

The 2003 NHL draft is actually regarded as one of the best of all time. Eric Staal (750 Games Played, based on the chart I'm looking at right now) was picked #2 (behind Marc-Andre Fleury) and leads the class in games played. 20 of the players taken in the first round that year (30 picks) have played 500, or more, games (which is incredible) and another couple are closing in on that mark. Only two players with less than 100 games (two absolute busts of that first round).


I think you're more thinking of cards than actual draft years though.


In terms of volume, the number of "good-to-star-to-superstar" level players, this season is going to be the next best after 2005-06. Just like that season, we've got two seasons worth of players making their cardboard debuts at the same time. You've got two #1 picks (Yakupov, MacKinnon) getting RCs at once.

IMO, here's how I'd rank the years in between 2005-06 and 2013-14, with the 2-6 (top) players who make me think that:

2007-08: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Towes, Carey Price, Bobby Ryan
2006-07: Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Anze Kopitar, Shea Weber
2010-11: Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Seguin, PK Subban
2009-10: John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Logan Couture
2008-09: Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughtey, Alex Pietrangelo
2011-12: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog
2012-13: Chris Krieder, Sven Baertschi

(Left a lot of names off. The 07-08 & 06-07 classes, in particular, are really deep with very good players - but those are the ones IMO that are the biggest names)

[RGM81]

Time usually helps decide what rookie classes stand out the most. Sometimes you'll see a really good player take a couple years to emerge as a real star, and once he does it can really solidify and increase the perception of a particular year's products. Obviously 2005-06 with its double rookie class holds up as the gold standard that really brought hockey back onto the map. One can hope that 13-14 does the same in due time.

I'm a huge fan of the 2007-08 rookie class. You look at the big names from that year: Price, Toews, Kane are the big three hobby darlings. They're all also very good hockey players. Even the second tier has some strong names: Nick Backstrom, Jonathan Bernier (prime example of a guy growing into it), Sam Gagner, David Perron, Bobby Ryan, Tuukka Rask, Milan Lucic...it's a very deep list. I could have listed 10 other guys there that are pretty prominent NHL players to this day.

That's my top pick for sure. Those guys are all coming into the prime of their careers now and should be stars for years to come.

On the low end, at least as far as cards go, 2012-13 stunk for rookies. The lockout-abridged season meant that the only guys who got rookie cards that year were holdovers from late debuts in 2011-12. There are some really good products released that season but it was mostly driven by veterans and legends to generate sales and interest. Panini's Prime was an absolute home run if you're a memorabilia collector. Some of the nicest cards ever made come from that release, IMO, and it's a lot of fun to break if you can afford the high-end price tag.

Other good rookie crops - I'd say 2010-11 will stand up pretty well over the course of time. Hall, Seguin, Eberle, Subban are the big four from that year. Some of the supporting cast includes the likes of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brayden Schenn, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Jeff Skinner are all pretty good players too. Some fantastic products that year as it was Panini's first year doing hockey and they really forced Upper Deck to step up their game.

[eliteco3]

wow awesome insight from you both. It is very well appreciated. I really want to try some 10-11, 11-12, and 13-14 products. I want to collect the edmonton oilers as one of my teams. I like Yakopov, Hall, and Nuge. They are a bad team now but will come into their own. What are some of the best products to buy name and year since Crosbys rookie year.

[Pucku2cards]

Sp Authentic it has a price point that won't kill you if you get a dud box, and the rookies hold their value $ for $ better than any other product. If your a gambler then the cup it is hands down, the rookies hold their value or better but it's a bigger risk and you get less chances per case.

[eliteco3]

I have not found any sites with the cup boxes for sale. I love sp authentic & spx for football products. I just want to buy an assortment of boxes that even if my box isn't great I won't get killed with the breaks

[centrehice]

90-91 is the greatest year of any draft class in history.

Marty Brodeur
Jaromir Jagr
Mats Sundin
Peter Bondra
Mike Modano
Sergei Fedorov
Alex Mogilny
Jeremy Roenick
Kris Draper
Eric Lindros
Mark Recchi
Keith Primeau
Cujo
Robert Reichel
Jeff Hackett
Kevin Stevens - coke-head, not Scott
Tie Domi
Rob Blake
Mike Richter
Owen Nolan
Derian Hatcher
Daryl Sydor
Rod Brind 'Amour
Bobby Holik
Mike Ricci
Petr Nedved
Stephane Matteau
Olaf Kolzig
Rico Desjardins
Ed Belfour
Dave Lowry
Link Gaetz - Psycho



91-92 was the next greatest year with guys like: Lidstrom, Konstantinov, Kariya, Forsberg, Tkachuk, Hasek, Rafalski, Kovalev, Khabibulin, Niedermayer, Felix Potvin, Palffy, and tons more.

[mooneyes]

Best class...but hard pressed to give the overproduced cards away....

always wondered what happened to Stevens, he was good, than done...I thought he hit his head on the ice and wasn't the same after? but what do I know....

[centrehice]

A new box of 90-91 OPC Premier still fetches over $50.00 for some bizarre reason. It should be about $15.00. I realize that you can get 9 Owen Nolan Rookies like I did instead of 9 Sundins or Roenicks, but usually you get 4 per box of almost every rookie.

I wasn't arguing the value of the cards, I was defending the talent alone. On that merit, the 2 years or 90-91 and 91-92 are pretty hard to beat. 2005-06 will be similar in nature, just not quite as many getting into the Hall.

90-91 will place - 12 players into the Hall when all is said and done. Jagr, Modano, Sundin, Brodeur, Lindros, Bondra, Cujo, Roenick, Mogilny, Blake, Fedorov, Belfour.

91-92 will be like 2005-06 and place 4-5 players into the Hall: 91-92 Niedermayer, Lidstrom, Tkachuk, Hasek, and perhaps another.

[mooneyes]

A new box of 90-91 OPC Premier still fetches over $50.00 for some bizarre reason. It should be about $15.00. I realize that you can get 9 Owen Nolan Rookies like I did instead of 9 Sundins or Roenicks, but usually you get 4 per box of almost every rookie.

I wasn't arguing the value of the cards, I was defending the talent alone. On that merit, the 2 years or 90-91 and 91-92 are pretty hard to beat. 2005-06 will be similar in nature, just not quite as many getting into the Hall.

90-91 will place - 12 players into the Hall when all is said and done. Jagr, Modano, Sundin, Brodeur, Lindros, Bondra, Cujo, Roenick, Mogilny, Blake, Fedorov, Belfour.

91-92 will be like 2005-06 and place 4-5 players into the Hall: 91-92 Niedermayer, Lidstrom, Tkachuk, Hasek, and perhaps another.

Gotcha, have stacks of Recchi's...sitting on his butt, what was U.D. thinking? and Teemu's, 92/93 along with Zhamnov rc's...I digress, but Zhamnov, in his years with the Jets was so amazing to watch, incredible skills...