Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I guess I'm just saying this should be a learning experience.
- If a guy is supposed to be 1 or 2, but the first three teams pass on him, maybe there's something they're seeing that we aren't.
- Draft best player, sure, but if he's not coachable (either because of the player or coach) then move him while he's still a 4th overall pick and the rest of the league hasn't been given 6 seasons to figure he's really just a bottom-six.
- Probably most importantly, figure out your plan for the team is and stick to it. And then either draft a guy that fits into that plan, or draft a better guy and trade him for a better guy that fits into that plan. Or just move down and get some more picks.
I know this stuff is much easier with the benefit of hindsight, but picking 4th overall doesn't grow on trees, and it's not like we couldn't have capitalized on that better than what we did today.
(Having said that, and given the way events actually transpired, a second-round prospect and a second-round pick is a pretty great return.)
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Sam was ranked consistently in the top 4, but was only #1 on a couple. So I don't view it as that teams passed on him - there was just better players.
At the time I thought #3 would be either Sam or Leon. I didn't think he would go higher than 3.
You also have to look at who went after:
#5 - Dal Colle
#6 - Virtanen
#7 - Fleury
#8 - Nylander
#9 - Ehlers
So you have to go 4 spots later to get to a better guy. Not likely to have happened that way.
And I don't think this is a fair criticism
"figure out your plan for the team is and stick to it. And then either draft a guy that fits into that plan, or draft a better guy and trade him for a better guy that fits into that plan. Or just move down and get some more picks."
The plan when they drafted him was that he was a top line forward. That's the plan. Things change. How can you say "draft a better guy". Well yeah. Obviously. How do you do that at the time. They drafted the guy they thought was the best at that spot.
They could have traded him earlier but the risk in doing that is the guy pops elsewhere.
Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean that the wrong decision was made at the time, or at various points along the way.