Quote:
Originally Posted by Caged Great
The problem is that we don't have enough supporting cast players as of yet in order to drop a superstar into in order to build a contender. A lot of teams try to get their star players first and then the supporting cast after (see Edmonton, NYI, Columbus with Nash etc.), but usually the star's contracts restricts their abilities to surround them properly. We will suck next year and likely the year after enough that we should get a MacKinnon or Drouin type prospect or two, which if you add those guys onto the 3 that we should get this year, it will mean that we'll have a big start on having a solid all round team that could then be on the verge of contending if everything is done right.
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The thing is, superstar players typically do not switch teams that easily (hence why many get called "franchise players"). It's much more difficult to land 1 superstar than it is several depth players, especially in the cap world and with the 27 year old UFA age. Any time you have a chance to get a potential franchise player, you have to take it.
You also can't assume that we are going to get 3 NHL players in this draft. As pointed out earlier, the 22nd and 28th pick are anything but sure shots. There is a pretty good chance that we only get one out of all three picks, so why not have that one be the best player possible?
It's not like adding MacKinnon would instantly make us a playoff contender. We'd still have a few more years of building no matter what. These things don't play dividends right away.