1990 NHL Entry Draft - Mike Ricci, Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau, Jaromir Jagr

The 1990 NHL Entry Draft was the 28th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted by the Vancouver Canucks at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 16, 1990. It is remembered as one of the deeper drafts in NHL history, with fourteen of the twenty-one first round picks going on to careers of at least 500 NHL games.
Nine of the twenty-one players drafted in the first round played 1,000 NHL games in their career.
The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Jaromir Jagr, who played his last NHL game in the 2017-18 season.
Heading into the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Mike Ricci had spent the entire 1989-90 season ranked as the top prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Prior to the release of the final rankings of North American skaters and goaltenders, it was speculated Owen Nolan, Keith Primeau and Petr Nedved would surpass Ricci; however, when the final rankings were released, Ricci remained as the top prospect. Jaromir Jagr was also considered to be one of the top prospects, but Central Scouting did not rank European players. Petr Nedved was an exception to that, as he played in North America after he defected his native Czechoslovakia.

[@randypattie9524]

You know i was at that draft in 1990, and i don't remember Nedved's pick being so popular. I guess you could call it a cautious cheer. Although Peter would turn out to be a pretty good player in the NHL, it would be with other franchises than the Canucks. You're right though Chris, It is pretty amazing at how often they came up dry, not only on draft day, but on all their picks, year after year. Even if they got a good player, it would seem like they would trade him away instead. (Rick Vaive: Cam Neely etc.) And of course, famously, or infamously, the Canucks have never had the pleasure of drafting first. A fact all Oiler fans wish would go away!

[@christhornycroft3686]

As a Canucks fan who became a fan in 1990 at the age of 8, I just have to shake my head at this and most other drafts. Nedved turned out to be a good player (even though he didn't want to stay here), but they could have had Jagr (who admittedly wanted to go to Pittsburgh so told everyone he wouldn't come over), a big D in Derian Hatcher, Keith Tkachuk (a big power forward), or one of the best goalies of all time in Brodeur, among other guys who would have been great at that draft position. Hindsight is always 20/20, but Pat Quinn had an almost irrational fixation with getting that "big centre" and it drove him to make some really odd selections that didn't at all work out. If he wanted the big centre, Keith Primeau was right there, and he was Canadian. He didn't become elite at any point, but he was a really effective, big, physical, 2 way pivot. It's remarkable how often the Canucks whiffed at the draft table. One bad pick after another in the first round and they didn't even have a 1st in 1987 because they *cough* traded future hall of fame power forward Cam Neely AND a 1st that became Glen Wesley, a top pairing D, for Barry Pederson, a guy with 1 100 point season, but he'd had cancer surgery to remove half of his shoulder since then and his point totals had already dropped significantly the previous season. He went from 100 to around 75 points. Every team makes bad personnel decisions, but the Canucks have a history of consistency in that area. Even Mike Ricci would have been a good pick. A shutdown centre for the next 15 years.

[@Hoovie9596]

My beloved Jets traded Dale Hawerchuk at this draft

[@Realistic316]

Jagr gets drafted, then the Penguins immediately win 2 straight cups