27 greatest American NHL players of all-time

<p>John LeClair great up near the Canadian border in St. Albans, Vermont and later starred at the University of Vermont before the Montreal Canadiens selected him with the No. 33 overall pick in the 1987 draft. LeClair was a part of the 1993 Stanley Cup champions but didn’t stay very long in Montreal where he scored 118 points in 224 games.</p> <p>LeClair was traded in February of his fourth year to Philadelphia with Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne for Mark Recchi and Philadelphia’s third round pick and that’s where LeClair’s career began to take off. LeClair scored 49 points in 37 games with the Flyers and was a first-team All-Star. That offered a glimpse of what he could do in a full season on “The Legion of Doom” line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg.</p> <p>The next five seasons would be the best of his career as he scored 51, 50 and 51 goals the next three years to become the first American-born player with three straight 50-goal seasons. He had 43 and 40 goals the next two years and averaged 89.6 points per season in that five-year span. The five-time All-Star finished in the top seven for the Hart twice in that span but injuries took their toll on the 6-3 power forward after that with back and shoulder surgeries, but his five-year peak made him one of the best players in the late-90s.</p> <p>He is one of nine American-born players with more than 400 career goals (406) and 400 assists (413) and ranks 15th all-time with 819 points.</p>. Left Wing. Philadelphia Flyers. John LeClair. 16. player. 68