Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop
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obviously it was a different era, and teams had different imperatives (ice a winning lineup, what's a first round draft pick? etc) but man the California teams were bad at this
the Seals could have drafted Reggie Leach at 3 OV in 1970 but instead that pick had been long since farmed off to Boston (although the Seals then got him anyways I think a few years later). Kings could have picked at 5 in 1970 but flipped that pick too to the Habs (Habs made a bad pick but Sittler was still on the table)
then again in 71 the Kings and Seals are drooling all over themselves making stupid deals with the Habs and totally botch the Lafleur draft
meanwhile there seemed to be a tiny number of teams actually intent on improving through the draft- the Habs already the cream of the crop walk away from 70 and 71 with Lafleur, Robinson, Lefley, Wilson, Arnason. the sabres with Perreault, Martin, Hajt, Ramsay, Deadmarsh. The Leafs with Sittler, Thompson, Kehoe, Low. The Bruins Leach, MacLeish, Bouchard, O'Reilly