Quote:
Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed
Any draft pick works this way. As soon as a pick is made, the player picked is worth less than the draft pick value is, until they have proven themselves in the league.
The Oilers still value him as a first overall pick. However, no other team in the league values him like that at this point.
Think of it this way, let's look at Bärtschi. He was drafted 13th, and you might argue he would have gone a little higher had the draft been done again now. How many of you think that the Flames would get an 8th overall pick (or so) straight up for Bärtschi? I don't, despite Bärtschi being several years closer to fullfilling his potential than he was at the time of the draft. If somehow such a deal was on the table (Bärtschi for the 8th overall pick in 2014), fans and likely management on both sides would look at the deal and say "no way!"
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Granted. But focusing on #1 overall picks only, the only guys in the last ten years who are probably worth less now than they were the day they were drafted are Johnson, Nugent-Hopkins and Yakupov. But Yak is the only one whose value has tumbled down a cliff.
(BTW, someone needs to come up with an "Honest Lowe's Used Oilers" commercial and put it on YouTube)