Quote:
Originally Posted by Phanuthier
You can, but on the UFA market, you usually have to overpay.
You supplement your core with UFA's, you don't start building around them.
Develop your team through the draft first, then supplement 1 or 2 pieces you are missing if you are close to winning.
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The whole "build through the draft or UFA" argument is a little off target, I think. You build winning teams by acquiring players whose value on the ice exceeds their cost. The easiest way to do that is through the draft. The hardest way (at least for top end players) is free agency.
So your general point is accurate, but it argues a false absolute. When you look at the roster of any Cup winning team, there is a good mixture of own draft picks, astute trade acquisitions and free agents.
The real question here is whether Getzlaf would have been a good free agent signing at the cost. That is a question that applies equally to Calgary in the hypothetical as it does Anahiem in the practical.