Quote:
Originally Posted by FacePaint
Thanks for the great read. I think it would similarly be interesting to compare the Flames situation to the Islanders, Oilers, Jackets etc of this world as a balance
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The Oilers draft Petry in the 2nd round in 06, followed by Gagner the next year. In 08, Eberle and Hartikainen (6th) and after that the only guys that have made the NHL are the guys they selected first overall.
Other than Schultz, who fell into their lap, and Petry, they haven't acquired any young defensemen to develop on their team. Whether or not any of their picks from the last 4 years pan out is yet to be determined.
They also only really have Dubnyk in the goalie pipeline, and they haven't really drafted any role players.
The Isles drafted Okposo and Andrew Macdonald in 06, Hamonic, Martin, and Bailey in 08, Tavares and Cizikas in 09, and nothing else really to show in 10, 11 or 12 in the NHL.
They are doing slightly better now though due to having both Tavares being awesome and having some character guys in Martin and Cizikas as well as a solid top 4 of Streit Hamonic Vishnovsky and MacDonald.
The Blue jackets have blown it up so many times that it's kind of a mess. They are doing better though this year as they have Bobrovsky and a solid defense core even though they can't score much.
It seems that teams that have rebuilt over a duration of 5 years, the ones that get solid defense, and solid 3rd line leadership types end up coming through their rebuild slightly faster and with better results than teams that try to plug in potential superstars and hope it just works. Those teams seem to spin their wheels and can't really gain any traction.
It seems like the only way you begin to get traction is if you begin to develop defensemen and lower line leader types in addition to skill. Skill in and of itself doesn't seem to have an impact.