Quote:
Originally Posted by $ven27
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.
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As for your qualifications for the Caps, Tampa, and Colorado, if any of those contributions were attributed to Vancouver (and they are), we would say yes, it means sweet dick all. It's nice to have a relatively competitive team during the season, but I think we can all agree that 0 championships (Im looking at Tampa post-Stamkos) means you haven't done enough. Especially in the case of the Caps. Thornton was traded for and I was really only looking at post-lockout players, when it seems all this fuss over losing for first overall picks seemed to start. And again: Edmonton, Florida, Columbus, NYI.
I'll reiterate, having top guys helps but there are a couple things people seem to have trouble grapsing. a) A top pick does not guarantee you a top player, b) Even if they are a top player, it does not guarantee you anything more than that you will have to pay them a ridiculous amount of money in a few short years and c) considering the lack of guarantees above, STRIVING to pick at the top of the draft seems ridiculous to me.
It's not getting the top pick I am against. It would likely yield a very good piece. It's the cheering for losing that is for losing losers.