Quote:
Originally Posted by MattyC
I would argue that Pittsburgh is an anomly in the list getting the best player of his generation, as I think we could agree Malkin and Fleury would not have gotten them to where they are. Washington, Tampa and Colorado have done sweet dick all. Chicago got their boys in Kane and Toews, but have largly been built outside of the first round and via trades. La got Doughty, but have again been largely built by later picks and trades as well. St Louis' only top 3 pick was Johnson who's not even on their team (although he did get them Shattenkirk (a second rounder whos arguably better) and Stewart who is up and down as a player. And they also haven't done anything significant team-wise either. Petro was a #4 so I'll give you that.
The point is, as you said, the high picks can help, but they are no guarantee for success. And they are certainly not so much a guarantee that we should be cheering for losses. For every Chicago/Pittsburgh theres a Boston/Ducks who has been built almost exclusivley through later round gems and trades. Not to mention the many perpetual bottom feeders taking all these sure fire stars and doing nothing with them. Not to mention the Redwings, Sharks, etc... haven't done much of anything either in the way of championships but have been perpetually competitive without the use of top 5s.
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The Caps were President trophy winners and the top team in the East for a few seasons, Tampa went to the conference finals and look to be very strong this year and Colorado seems to have turned the corner, I'd hardly say they've done sweet dick all. Also the Sharks do have Marleau and Thornton who were #1 & 2 picks.
But outside of Detroit who are contending teams without a top 5 pick? Anaheim, Rangers and Boston, that's it. You obviously can't build a team solely on your top picks but you need them to become contenders in most cases.