Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
People make fun of the Oilers because even with a bunch of 1st OA picks they had a terrible team. It wasn't until they hit the homerun/lottery with McDavid that they turned things around.
Ask Leafs fans how bad they feel about enduring a rebuild.
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Looking at the Oilers for a second, with their #1 draft picks, for the most part they didn't make any bad selections (Yakupov notwithstanding as he was expected to go at the top of a very weak draft class). The problem is that sucking at the wrong times and not being able to draft outside of the first round is what keeps bad teams bad. For every example of the Hawks, there is the Islanders or the Panthers, who have been pretty dreadful for a long time. The Hawks have been successful for a long time because they have been a great drafting team that has made the hard trades at the right time to successfully complement the core. They had the base elite core with Kane, Toews and Keith and have been able to surround them with talent through the draft. But make no mistake if you subtracted two of those players, they don't win a cup and are just an average team.
It requires elite level talent, good drafting, good management, and luck. The Flames are close in my view; but still need time and luck with some of their draft picks reaching their potential or exceeding expectations. Before looking at coaching in the big leagues I would look at coaching at the AHL level and the major pro scouting