#29 - Bryan Trottier

Bryan Trottier (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #29)

Adjusted Stats

1975-1976   NYI          82 GP   30 goals   58 assists   88 points     1.07 PPG
1976-1977   NYI          78 GP   28 goals   40 assists   68 points     0.88 PPG
1977-1978   NYI          79 GP   44 goals   74 assists   118 points   1.49 PPG
1978-1979   NYI          78 GP   42 goals   78 assists   121 points   1.55 PPG
1979-1980   NYI*        80 GP   38 goals   56 assists   93 points     1.17 PPG
1980-1981   NYI*        75 GP   25 goals   59 assists   84 points     1.13 PPG
1981-1982   NYI*        82 GP   39 goals   62 assists   101 points   1.23 PPG
1982-1983   NYI*        82 GP   28 goals   45 assists   73 points     0.89 PPG
1983-1984   NYI          70 GP   32 goals   57 assists   89 points     1.27 PPG
1984-1985   NYI          70 GP   23 goals   25 assists   48 points     0.69 PPG
1985-1986   NYI          80 GP   29 goals   47 assists   76 points     0.95 PPG
1986-1987   NYI          82 GP   20 goals   55 assists   75 points     0.91 PPG
1987-1988   NYI          79 GP   25 goals   44 assists   70 points     0.88 PPG
1988-1989   NYI          75 GP   14 goals   24 assists   38 points     0.51 PPG
1989-1990   NYI          60 GP   11 goals   9 assists     21 points     0.34 PPG
1990-1991   Pit*           53 GP   8 goals     17 assists   26 points     0.48 PPG
1991-1992   Pit*           65 GP   10 goals   16 assists   26 points     0.41 PPG
1993-1994   Pit             40 GP   4 goals     10 assists   14 points     0.35 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1975-1976   NYI          13 GP   1 goal       7 assists     8 points      0.60 PPG
1976-1977   NYI          12 GP   2 goals      7 assists     9 points      0.73 PPG
1977-1978   NYI          7 GP     0 goals      3 assists     3 points      0.42 PPG
1978-1979   NYI          10 GP   2 goals      4 assists     5 points      0.55 PPG
1979-1980   NYI*        21 GP   10 goals    14 assists   25 points    1.18 PPG
1980-1981   NYI*        18 GP   8 goals      13 assists   21 points    1.14 PPG
1981-1982   NYI*        19 GP   5 goals      18 assists   23 points    1.19 PPG
1982-1983   NYI*        17 GP   6 goals      9 assists     16 points    0.92 PPG
1983-1984   NYI          21 GP   7 goals      5 assists     12 points    0.59 PPG
1984-1985   NYI          10 GP   3 goals      2 assists     5 points      0.45 PPG
1985-1986   NYI          3 GP     1 goal        1 assist      2 points      0.58 PPG
1986-1987   NYI          14 GP   7 goals      4 assists     12 points    0.83 PPG
1987-1988   NYI          6 GP     0 goals      0 assists     0 points      0.00 PPG
1989-1990   NYI          4 GP     1 goal        0 assists     1 point       0.21 PPG
1990-1991   Pit*           23 GP   3 goals      3 assists     6 points      0.26 PPG
1991-1992   Pit*           21 GP   3 goals      3 assists     6 points      0.29 PPG
1993-1994   Pit             2 GP     0 goals      0 assists     0 points      0.00 PPG

Career - 1310 GP, 450 goals, 776 assists, 1229 points, 0.94 PPG
Career-Highs - 44 goals (77-78); 78 assists (78-79); 121 points (78-79); 1.55 PPG (78-79)
Avg. (18 seasons) - 73 GP, 25 goals, 43 assists, 68 points, 0.94 PPG
Peak Avg. (76-84) - 78 GP, 35 goals, 59 assists, 93 points, 1.20 PPG, 4 Cups

Playoff Career - 221 GP, 59 goals, 93 assists, 154 points, 0.70 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 10 goals (79-80); 18 assists (81-82); 25 points (79-80); 1.19 PPG (81-82)

Accolades - 1 MVP award, 1 Art Ross, Calder, 1 Conn Smythe
All-Star Teams - 2-time 1st-team, 2-time 2nd-team
6-time Stanley Cup Champion

Trottier is one of the reasons I wanted to include the "peak average" category. In his final five seasons, Trottier averaged only 25 adjusted points, dragging down his overall averages. But look at the stretch for which we remember him most, the mid-70s to mid-80s. For the eight years from 1976 to 1984, Trottier averaged 35 goals, 93 points, a staggering (for a forward) +52, and led the Islanders to four Stanley Cup championships. He also won pretty much every award you can win: scoring title, MVP, Conn Smythe, rookie of the year.

It's hard to imagine a better run for a two-way center than that. Imagine a Jonathan Toews or Mike Richards going on a run like that. So Trottier is actually almost in the second-tier of centers on the Pyramid list, with Steve Yzerman. Sure, his overall numbers aren't quite up there (not quite a PPG for his career), but Trottier was a winner through and through. For the final few seasons of his career, alcoholism began to catch up to Trottier and his skills noticeably declined. But when he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990, he brought a certain element of much-needed leadership and experience to the team, and Trottier was able to add two more Stanley Cups to his name while playing as a third/fourth-line center.

If there's a knock on Trottier, it's that his adjusted playoff numbers dip quite a bit from the rate he scored at in the regular season. Perhaps this is because Trottier had to focus more on his defensive responsibilities, leaving the pure goal scoring to Bossy. But for the four consecutive Cups that the Islanders won, Trottier was integral, scoring 20+ adjusted playoff points in the first three runs.

So how do we remember Trottier? We don't remember the decline of the last several years, but instead we focus on the fact that he was considered the league's best center in the mid-to-late 1970s (before some kid named Gretzky came along). Trottier was part of the 1-1A-1B trio with Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy that powered the Islanders to four straight championships. He may not be quite up there with Yzerman, Sakic, Mikita and the like, but he stands as quite possibly the best two-way center of all-time.