NEWSLETTER
With all of the excitement surrounding the Blackhawks winning the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Connor Bedard, there’s already talk about how good he can be as a rookie. NBCSN Chicago recently asked if he can be a point-per-game player in the NHL as a teenager. That would be a rare accomplishment; they note that only 37 players in NHL history have averaged at least a point-per-game in their rookie season.
You know who did that? Steve Larmer.
Larmer posted 90 points in 80 games as a rookie in Chicago, earning him the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. He scored 43 goals that season, the first time he reached the 40-goal mark in his career. Larmer visited the 40-goal club frequently.
But 43 goals as a rookie? That’s surprisingly uncommon. In fact, since Larmer scored 43 in his rookie campaign in 1982-83, only ten players have scored 40 in their first NHL season.
- Teemu Selanne – 1992-93 – 76*
- Alexander Ovechkin – 2005-06 – 52
- Joe Nieuwendyk – 1987-88 – 51
- Luc Robitaille – 1986-87 – 45
- Mario Lemieux – 1984-85 – 43
- Steve Larmer – 1982-83 – 43
- Eric Lindros – 1992-93 – 41
- Auston Matthews – 2016-17 – 40
- Warren Young – 1984-85 – 40
- Sylvain Turgeon – 1983-94 – 40
Two of the players on this list — Ovechkin and Matthews — are still active. The four other than Ovechkin who scored as many or more than Larmer in their rookie seasons are Hall of Famers. And Lindros is also an inducted member as well. Selanne’s 76 is the NHL record and I submit that’s a number that may never be touched by a rookie again — including Bedard (sorry kids).
Only two Blackhawks have ever scored 40 times in their rookie seasons: Larmer and Darryl Sutter in 1980-81 (Sutter scored 40). Indeed, Larmer and Sutter are the only Blackhawks rookies to ever score more than 30, a number accomplished three times.
That 1982-83 season was the first of five 40-goal seasons for Larmer between the 1982-83 and 1992-93 seasons, the years he was with the Blackhawks. I have seen some arguments — all completely valid by the way — that we need to contextualize statistics for the era in which they were produced when considering Hall of Fame candidacy. So let’s do that with Larmer.
Here’s the full list of players who, in the years mentioned above, had at least 40 goals in a season five times or more:
Tim Kerr is italicized on the list because he and Larmer are the only players on this list who aren’t already inducted members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. And look at the names on this list. They’re all no-doubt Hall of Famers, with maybe Ciccarelli being the one guy who people have questioned in the past.
The only player in Blackhawks history to have at least five 40-goal seasons other than Larmer is Bobby Hull, who reached the mark eight times in 15 years with the organization. There have been 37 individual seasons in the history of the Blackhawks in which a player reached the 40-goal mark, and more than one-third of them came from The Golden Jet and Larmer.
Once again, we’re reminded that Steve Larmer’s numbers are among the greatest we’ve ever seen — still — from a Chicago Blackhawk. And his numbers also stand up as some of the best of his era. And his rookie production is among the best we’ve seen since he broke into the league.
I’ll continue making the argument that Larmer should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame until someone notices and puts him up for a vote. This is my final installment of our 28 on 28 series before the selection committee votes on June 21 of this year. Hopefully someone in that room brings Larmer back up for consideration.
