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The Second Most Valuable Rookie in the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee Series

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The card to have from the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee series is the Mike Bossy Rookie Card. Next up? Hockey card number 353, the Dave Taylor rookie card. Bossy’s RC is worth $100 according to Beckett Hockey Monthly. Taylor’s comes in a little lower at $30. The Dave Taylor rookie card can only be found in the O-Pee-Chee set, his first Topps card didn’t appear until the following season.

1978-79 o-pee-chee 353 dave taylor rookie card los angeles kings
1978-79 O-Pee-Chee #353 – Dave Taylor rookie card.

Dave Taylor played his entire NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings from 1977-78 until 1993-94. The Kings drafted him 210th overall in the fifteenth round of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft. With a career total of 1069 regular season points over 1111 games, Taylor is the lowest drafted player to surpass the 1000 point plateau.

Twice during his career with Los Angeles, Dave surpassed the 100 plateau is single season. His 112 in 1980-81 and 106 in 1981-82 culminated a string of four seasons with over 90 points. During this time, he played on the ‘Triple Crown Line’ along side Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer. In 1980-81, all three from the ‘Triple Crown Line’ went over the 100 point mark. They led the Kings to a fourth overall finish that season, but the team was downed by the New York Rangers in the opening round. The Rangers finished the regular season with 25 less points than the Kings.

Interestingly, Taylor’s 1069 career points are by far the highest total of any player selected in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft. Next up was Denis Maruk, selected in the second round by the California Golden Seals, with 878. Following Taylor and Maruk was the first overall pick, Mel Bridgeman of the Philadelphia Flyers, with 701. Overall, it was one of the more dismal drafts in the history of the league.

Taylor’s 1111 career games is still a team career record. Not a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he is eternally honoured by the Los Angeles Kings, having his number 18 retired by the club. His is one of only five Los Angeles Kings retired numbers.

Dave Taylor NHL Career Stats (Regular Season)

SeasonTeamGPGAPtsPIM
1977-78Los Angeles Kings6422214347
1978-79Los Angeles Kings78434891124
1979-80Los Angeles Kings6137539072
1980-81Los Angeles Kings724765112130
1981-82Los Angeles Kings783967106130
1982-83Los Angeles Kings4621375876
1983-84Los Angeles Kings6320496991
1984-85Los Angeles Kings79415192132
1985-86Los Angeles Kings76333871110
1986-87Los Angeles Kings6718446284
1987-88Los Angeles Kings68264167129
1988-89Los Angeles Kings7026376380
1989-90Los Angeles Kings5815264196
1990-91Los Angeles Kings73233053148
1991-92Los Angeles Kings7710192963
1992-93Los Angeles Kings48691549
1993-94Los Angeles Kings3343728
NHL Totals111143163810691589

Dave Taylor NHL Career Stats (Playoffs)

SeasonTeamGPGAPtsPIM
1977-78Los Angeles Kings20005
1978-79Los Angeles Kings20002
1979-80Los Angeles Kings42134
1980-81Los Angeles Kings422410
1981-82Los Angeles Kings10461020
1982-83Los Angeles Kings00000
1983-84Los Angeles Kings00000
1984-85Los Angeles Kings32248
1985-86Los Angeles Kings00000
1986-87Los Angeles Kings52356
1987-88Los Angeles Kings53366
1988-89Los Angeles Kings1115619
1989-90Los Angeles Kings64486
1990-91Los Angeles Kings1221312
1991-92Los Angeles Kings611220
1992-93Los Angeles Kings2235831
1993-94Los Angeles Kings00000
NHL Totals92263359149

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