if you go back since 2001, there draft history has been downright abysmal/shameful.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/t...r00005763.html
during that period they have drafted in the first round as follows:
4, 3, 3, 7, 20, 10, 10, 14,3, 3, 23, 2, 1
avg = 7
based on that, they're basically in their second rebuild in 13 years, where the first rebuild really didn't get them anywhere.
taking the flames by comparison:
14, 10, 9, 24, 26, 26, 24, 25, 23, 13, 21, 6, 4
avg= 17
and then the oilers:
13, 15, 22, 14, 25, 6, 22, 10, 1, 1, 1, 7, 3,
avg = 10
just for kicks, the hawks that built up a cup team/powerhouse:
9, 21, 14, 3, 7, 3, 1, 11, 28, 24, 18, 18, 30, 20
avg = 14
the take away for me when comparing the hawks, is that sure they hit home runs with kane/toews, but actually missed in other years but hit the jackpot when drafting later on (keith in 2nd round, wisniewski 5th round, byfugelin 8th round, crawford 2nd round, seabrook at 14th overall, brower 7th round, bolland/bickel 2nd round, hjalmarsson 4th round, ).
they basically had at least one home run pick, if not 3, every year till 08.
really goes to show just how nutty the draft can be. The other curious thing i'd love to see if there's more data on, is that is it that the hawks happened to just be better at picking the right guys (even if the right choice happened to occur in late rounds) or how much of it has to do with other less quantifiable factors like: Development, coaching, etc. Or did they just happen to suck most when the best prospects were available, which the panthers missed out on by sucking too soon?
in any case, panthers have been terrible for a while, but i do think they have the young assets to turn this thing around soon.