1. Martin Brodeur
1990 NHL Draft
The top two in the 1990 NHL Draft might be the greatest two players to compete for this honor in history. It’s Martin Brodeur and Jaromir Jagr, former teammates and two of the all-time best in the league. Jagr was a fantastic player, but Brodeur wins this by being the GOAT at his position. Like Elias and Alfredsson, we can’t blame you if you put Jagr slightly ahead of Brodeur for whatever reason. You can’t go wrong with either player.
What can we say about Brodeur that hasn’t been said? He’s on top of just about every major record in NHL history. Marc-Andre Fleury is second all-time in wins, and he’s 130 behind at the time of this writing. He holds too many records.
In case you didn’t know, the Devils actually held the pick that drafted a different goalie. Trevor Kidd was taken 11th overall by the Calgary Flames. The Devils sent the Flames 11 overall (Kidd) and 32 overall (Vesa Viitakoski) for 20 overall (Martin Brodeur), 24 overall (David Harlock) and 29 overall (Chris Gotziaman). Lamoriello got a great haul to move down nine picks, and he still took the best player in the draft 20th overall.
Brodeur was the steal of the century while Kidd because a mediocre-at-best goalie. He played fewer than a third of Brodeur’s 1,266 career games. It was the best move Lamoriello ever made.