Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Winning it all is rarely a result of trades or free agents anyways.
Most cup teams drafted their elite cores.
Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Fleury
Kucherov, Hedman, Point, Stamkos, Palat, Gourde, (Coleman was a trade yes)
Keith, Kane, Toews, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson (Hossa was a FA yes)
Kopitar, Doughty, Quick, Voynov, Brown, (Carter was a FA yes)
Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Lucic, Thomas (yes, Chara was a FA)
Pietrangelo, Tarasenko, Parayko, Binnington (yes ROR and Schenn were trade acquisitions)
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And you can add Washington to that list as well:
Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Carlson, Wilson, Backstrom, Holtby, Orlov
Good drafting is still the best way to build a contending team. As an example Flames could have easily had Barkov and Calgary kid Brayden Point as their #1C and #2C had they not won bunch of meaningful games in 2013 and had they drafted for speed and skill in later rounds in 2014. They selected Mason McDonald, Hunter Smith and Brandon Hickey instead.