Ron Francis (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #45)
Adjusted Stats
1981-1982 Hfd 60 GP 20 goals 34 assists 53 points 0.88 PPG
1982-1983 Hfd 81 GP 25 goals 48 assists 73 points 0.91 PPG
1983-1984 Hfd 74 GP 18 goals 48 assists 66 points 0.90 PPG
1984-1985 Hfd 82 GP 19 goals 46 assists 66 points 0.80 PPG
1985-1986 Hfd 54 GP 19 goals 42 assists 61 points 1.13 PPG
1986-1987 Hfd 77 GP 26 goals 54 assists 80 points 1.04 PPG
1987-1988 Hfd 82 GP 21 goals 42 assists 64 points 0.78 PPG
1988-1989 Hfd 71 GP 24 goals 40 assists 65 points 0.92 PPG
1989-1990 Hfd 82 GP 27 goals 59 assists 86 points 1.05 PPG
1990-1991 Hfd/Pit* 83 GP 21 goals 58 assists 79 points 0.96 PPG
1991-1992 Pit* 72 GP 19 goals 30 assists 49 points 0.68 PPG
1992-1993 Pit 82 GP 20 goals 63 assists 83 points 1.01 PPG
1993-1994 Pit 80 GP 25 goals 61 assists 86 points 1.08 PPG
1994-1995 Pit 75 GP 19 goals 84 assists 104 points 1.38 PPG
1995-1996 Pit 77 GP 26 goals 90 assists 116 points 1.51 PPG
1996-1997 Pit 81 GP 28 goals 66 assists 95 points 1.17 PPG
1997-1998 Pit 81 GP 29 goals 72 assists 101 points 1.25 PPG
1998-1999 Car 82 GP 25 goals 36 assists 61 points 0.74 PPG
1999-2000 Car 78 GP 26 goals 56 assists 82 points 1.05 PPG
2000-2001 Car 82 GP 17 goals 56 assists 73 points 0.88 PPG
2001-2002 Car 80 GP 32 goals 59 assists 90 points 1.13 PPG
2002-2003 Car 82 GP 25 goals 41 assists 66 points 0.81 PPG
2003-2004 Car/Tor 80 GP 16 goals 32 assists 48 points 0.60 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1985-1986 Hfd 10 GP 1 goal 2 assists 3 points 0.26 PPG
1986-1987 Hfd 6 GP 2 goals 2 assists 4 points 0.60 PPG
1987-1988 Hfd 6 GP 2 goals 4 assists 5 points 0.88 PPG
1988-1989 Hfd 4 GP 0 goals 2 assists 2 points 0.43 PPG
1989-1990 Hfd 7 GP 3 goals 3 assists 5 points 0.72 PPG
1990-1991 Pit* 24 GP 6 goals 9 assists 14 points 0.60 PPG
1991-1992 Pit* 21 GP 7 goals 17 assists 24 points 1.12 PPG
1992-1993 Pit 12 GP 5 goals 9 assists 14 points 1.16 PPG
1993-1994 Pit 6 GP 0 goals 2 assists 2 points 0.33 PPG
1994-1995 Pit 12 GP 5 goals 11 assists 17 points 1.40 PPG
1995-1996 Pit 11 GP 3 goals 6 assists 9 points 0.78 PPG
1996-1997 Pit 5 GP 1 goal 2 assists 3 points 0.63 PPG
1997-1998 Pit 6 GP 1 goal 6 assists 7 points 1.11 PPG
1998-1999 Car 3 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.37 PPG
2000-2001 Car 3 GP 0 goals 0 assists 0 points 0.00 PPG
2001-2002 Car 23 GP 7 goals 12 assists 19 points 0.83 PPG
2003-2004 Tor 12 GP 0 goals 5 assists 5 points 0.43 PPG
Career - 1778 GP, 527 goals, 1217 assists, 1747 points, 0.98 PPG
Career-Highs - 32 goals (01-02); 90 assists (95-96); 116 points (95-96); 1.51 PPG (95-96)
Avg. (23 seasons) - 77 GP, 23 goals, 53 assists, 76 points, 0.98 PPG
Peak Avg. (92-00) - 80 GP, 25 goals, 66 assists, 91 points, 1.14 PPG, 0 Cups
Playoff Career - 171 GP, 43 goals, 93 assists, 134 points, 0.78 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 7 goals (91-92); 17 assists (91-92); 24 points (91-92); 1.40 PPG (94-95)
Accolades - 3 Lady Byngs, 1 Selke
All-Star Teams - None
2-time Stanley Cup Champion
Ron Francis sits fourth all-time in NHL scoring, something that I initially thought must be attributable to the fact that he played throughout the 1980s. But no...even when adjusted, Francis is still fourth on the career list (his best years, after all, were in the mid-to-late 1990s, the trap era). And yet when The Hockey News listed the twenty greatest centers of all time recently, Francis wasn't on the list.
Is he underrated? Yes, but not by a lot. Through twenty-three seasons, Francis never once made a year-end all-star team. With the Hartford Whalers, "Ronnie Franchise" really wasn't an elite franchise player, although he was very good. It was only when Francis joined the Pittsburgh Penguins, already entering his thirties, that his career began to take off. Paired with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, Francis turned into an assists-machine, and for a period in the mid 1990s may well have been one of the best second-line centers of all-time (the Forsberg/Sakic 1-1A combo and Mark Messier would be up for consideration as well).
Francis certainly benefited from playing with Jagr, but credit needs to be given to him for being able to fill the void when Mario Lemieux missed time with Hodgkin's disease and then later with his back injuries. You can see Francis' numbers drop off considerably when he left Pittsburgh to return to the Carolina franchise, but Francis was still able to muster up an excellent 32-goal, 90-point effort in 2001-2002 and lead the Hurricanes to a surprise Cup appearance against the Detroit Red Wings.
So while he may not have ever been an elite scorer (and certainly not an elite goal-scorer), Francis was the epitome of a second-line center: responsible defensively (particularly as he got older), able to pot 60+ assists and 25 goals, and a classy leader. Career scoring totals are misleading, and there is no way that Francis is one of the top centers ever, but I have to think that being fourth on the all-time points list warrants at least a little consideration. At the very least, he's my starting center on the Props For Sticking Around So Long All-Star Team. Francis has been deemed "underrated" for so long that he risks being overrated. I put him near the end of Level 4...he was never great, but he stayed at such a good level for so long that he won me over.
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