As far as the expansion era (1967-present) goes, Mario Lemieux is the undisputed best No. 1 overall pick in NHL history, per Greg Wyshynski at ESPN, who unleashed his rankings earlier. And while several former top picks more than deserved consideration, including Sidney Crosby (2005), Lemieux may've been the league's most dominant player ever next to Wayne Gretzky.
Fans of other teams will have differing opinions on what I just said, but Lemieux changed the entire culture of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. Yeah, they were ailing some when Sidney Crosby got there, but we don't know what would've become of the Pens if Lemieux didn't end up in the Steel City at the 1984 draft.
And really, we still don't know how good Lemieux would've been, given the number of obstacles he faced in his career. He played in just 26 games in 1990-91 thanks to a back injury that became too much and it required surgery.
While he managed to return in time for a playoff run that ended with a Stanley Cup, missing 50-plus games that season stalled what was yet another promising regular season campaign.
Mario Lemieux is easily the best No. 1 pick ever despite missing extended playing time
Fast-forward to 1992-93, and a cancer diagnosis in January stalled his career. That limited him to just 60 games, before he underwent another back surgery in July, which caused him to miss more time. And an injury-riddled 1993-94 campaign limited him to just 22 games.
Post-cancer fatigue set in and it caused Lemieux to miss the entire 1994-95 lockout-shortened NHL season. He finally returned as a full-time player in 1995-96 and 1996-97 before retiring. He'd stay away from the game for three years, but returned in 2000-01.
Lemieux never played a full season following his comeback, but when he was on the ice, he was as effective as ever. After the 2004-05 lockout, Lemieux came back for 26 games in 2005-06, sharing the ice sporadically with Sidney Crosby.
Lemieux was a great player with legendary numbers that could've been even better
While he started play back in 1984-85 in what was his age-19 season and didn't retire for good until his age-40 campaign, Lemieux played in just 915 games. A modest number for a player whose career spanned for over two decades.
But he still finished with 1,723 points, 690 goals, and 1,033 assists, easily making him one of the most successful players ever. Had Lemieux not suffered injuries or missed time for radiation treatments, he would've eclipsed 2,000 points.
Still, he forged an unforgettable Hall-of-Fame career that included a legendary 199-point season in 1988-89. All of that said, it's no wonder that Greg Wyshynski pegged him in as the best first-overall pick of the age.