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.
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)
Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
1977-78 | Los Angeles Kings | 64 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 47 |
1978-79 | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 43 | 48 | 91 | 124 |
1979-80 | Los Angeles Kings | 61 | 37 | 53 | 90 | 72 |
1980-81 | Los Angeles Kings | 72 | 47 | 65 | 112 | 130 |
1981-82 | Los Angeles Kings | 78 | 39 | 67 | 106 | 130 |
1982-83 | Los Angeles Kings | 46 | 21 | 37 | 58 | 76 |
1983-84 | Los Angeles Kings | 63 | 20 | 49 | 69 | 91 |
1984-85 | Los Angeles Kings | 79 | 41 | 51 | 92 | 132 |
1985-86 | Los Angeles Kings | 76 | 33 | 38 | 71 | 110 |
1986-87 | Los Angeles Kings | 67 | 18 | 44 | 62 | 84 |
1987-88 | Los Angeles Kings | 68 | 26 | 41 | 67 | 129 |
1988-89 | Los Angeles Kings | 70 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 80 |
1989-90 | Los Angeles Kings | 58 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 96 |
1990-91 | Los Angeles Kings | 73 | 23 | 30 | 53 | 148 |
1991-92 | Los Angeles Kings | 77 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 63 |
1992-93 | Los Angeles Kings | 48 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 49 |
1993-94 | Los Angeles Kings | 33 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 28 |
NHL Totals | 1111 | 431 | 638 | 1069 | 1589 |
Dave Taylor NHL Career Stats (Playoffs)
Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
1977-78 | Los Angeles Kings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
1978-79 | Los Angeles Kings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
1979-80 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
1980-81 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
1981-82 | Los Angeles Kings | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
1982-83 | Los Angeles Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1983-84 | Los Angeles Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1984-85 | Los Angeles Kings | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
1985-86 | Los Angeles Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1986-87 | Los Angeles Kings | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
1987-88 | Los Angeles Kings | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
1988-89 | Los Angeles Kings | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 19 |
1989-90 | Los Angeles Kings | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
1990-91 | Los Angeles Kings | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
1991-92 | Los Angeles Kings | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
1992-93 | Los Angeles Kings | 22 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 31 |
1993-94 | Los Angeles Kings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NHL Totals | 92 | 26 | 33 | 59 | 149 |