RON FRANCIS: THE HERO OF OUR STORY
"Ronny Franchise" was the best ever Hartford Whaler, leading the team in all major statistical categories historically. I'm going to build my team around him when he comes to us in the 1981 draft. He's got the 2nd most assists of all time in the NHL after Gretzky, and he's 5th in total points.
Historically the Whalers traded Francis to the Penguins in 1991, and he would go on to win the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh back-to-back. With how stacked that Pens team was in 1991, you could argue that Francis was only their 4th best player, behind Lemieux, Jagr, and Coffey. But in this universe Francis is going to be our franchise guy throughout.
For now though, I'm going to focus on the Whalers team that's given to me, and build a foundation for when Francis and some other decent guys arrive via the draft in the early 80s.