Islanders: Best and worst draft classes of the 1980s

The 1980s was a great decade for the New York Islanders on the NHL Draft floor.

The 1980s were the golden era for the New York Islanders. With four Stanley Cup championships and five Stanley Cup finals in five years, a golden era is an obvious distinction for the unimaginable success the Isles were having.

And honestly, even with all that success on the ice they were still pulling quality out of the draft. That shouldn’t necessarily be the case. If the Isles didn’t lead the league in points during the regular season (they did that twice) they were near the top of the standings.

For a draft order that was based on regular-season standings, that’s impressive.

I’ve made rankings for the 2010s, 2000s, and 1990s. Here are the other rankings:

• Isles 2010s draft rankings
• Isles 2000s draft rankings
• Isles 1990s draft rankings

Before I get to the rankings I want you to know how I ranked these draft classes. I don’t base the rankings on the drafted player’s entire career. It’s only based on how these players did with the New York Islanders.

I also primarily look at the numbers of games played. It’s the best way to look at how impactful a draft was. The entire reason of the draft is to find NHL caliber players. The longer the tenure, the bigger the impact, the better the draft.

If for some reason, there are two drafts that are close for the total number of games played then I’ll look at production for the entire draft to split the difference.