Say it ain\u2019t so, Joe.<\/p>\n
As the Maple Leafs grapple with all-star Mitch Marner\u2019s likely departure, former general manager Gord Stellick brought up another story of a first-round pick, this one that got away at the draft table.<\/p>\n
While it was well known that the Leafs passed on Joe Sakic in 1987 \u2014 as did 12 other clubs before Sakic went to the Quebec Nordiques \u2014 Stellick detailed how close the future Hall of Famer came to wearing Blue and White in a guest appearance on the Leafs Morning Take podcast.<\/p>\n
Holding the seventh overall pick that year, the Leafs had an ad hoc committee with Stellick, who was then the NHL\u2019s youngest GM at 30 years old, coach John Brophy and senior scouts, but all living with the whims of unpredictable owner Harold Ballard.<\/p>\n
Big Peterborough Petes defenceman Luke Richardson was on their radar, but as it got close to Toronto\u2019s turn, scouting director Floyd Smith made a convincing argument to consider Sakic.<\/p>\n
With 60 goals and 73 assists for the Swift Current Broncos, Sakic was certainly attractive, but lacked bulk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe table (at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit) is up in arms, like \u2018holy crap,\u2019\u201d Stellick recalled for the show\u2019s hosts. \u201cBrophy (who preferred scrappy players) was going nuts because he doesn\u2019t like small centremen.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn Brophy was our coach and he had way too much influence as a coach because the owner, Harold Ballard, liked him \u2026 It\u2019s absurd. A coach who is even involved when you\u2019re drafting. But he had the ear of the owner.\u201d<\/p>\n
That insured the Leafs took Richardson, but as was the case with many of their 1980s picks, they had no gradual development plan for him. He could\u2019ve used another year of junior, but openly challenged Stellick\u2019s plan to demote him and, while he did play 21 years with various teams, his Toronto tenure wasn\u2019t as successful as hoped.<\/p>\n
Stellick said he re-hashed the story with Sakic in 2012 at the latter\u2019s Hall of Fame induction. The irony was that Sakic wasn\u2019t even the Nordiques\u2019 first pick that year. In a draft dominated by defencemen, they took Bryan Fogarty ninth before Sakic at 15th.<\/p>\n
Two Hall of Famers led off that draft, with Pierre Turgeon going first to Buffalo and future Leafs president Brendan Shanahan second to the New Jersey Devils.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always think about that \u2026 c\u2019est la vie,\u201d Stellick concluded his story. \u201cI\u2019m sure that it worked out better for Joe Sakic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sakic had three 100-point seasons with Quebec, which changed addresses to Colorado in 1995 and won the Stanley Cup its first year in Denver. That was Sakic\u2019s first of two as a player, the second coming in 2001, before adding the 2022 title as the team\u2019s GM. He\u2019s now the Avalanche\u2019s director of hockey operations.<\/p>\n