Quote:
Originally Posted by N-E-B
Colorado, Chicago, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles... Pretty much any team with multiple Stanley Cups over the past 15 years had multiple high draft picks on them (and I'm including the Avs in there because I think they'll win another before their time is up).
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See I would really like to talk about this because people throw these names around and I don't think they are actual examples of what people want. There is a difference in blowing it up for a rebuild and just plain being bad for a long time and happening to get lucky on a couple high draft picks.
Colorado - They went 10 years without a playoff series victory. By the time they rebounded from the horrendous 16-17 campaign, they had pieces like Mackinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, etc. Can you honestly say those pieces came from blowing it up 10 years earlier when they still had Sakic, Hejduk, Stastny, etc? Because outside of that one terrible season, their results were pretty middling, and I see no sort of bottoming out of their results and team. They had no surplus of high draft picks that allowed them to rebuild. IMO this is not a fair comparison.
Chicago - Everyone's classic example for this. Like Colorado, they went 11 seasons without a playoff series victory. Again, they were just bad for a long time. Heck they made the playoffs in 97 with a sub .500 record! They did bottom out right around the lockout year and they got lucky with back to back top 3 picks and got Kane and Toews. So a decent representation. But remember they had been bad for years at that point and had multiple years going back as far as 97 with multiple first round picks. So while they did rebuild, again it took a decade. IMO this is a decent but rose tinted example of a rebuild.
Tampa Bay - Weird example as they didn't have as much of a drought and had some ups and downs with their success. They again got extremely lucky with Stamkos and Hedman in back to back years. But in the Stamkos draft, they didn't have another pick until the 4th round. That does not exactly scream rebuilding with lots of assets. In the Hedman year they did have an additional 1st rounder, but in momst years they had less top round picks than they should have. They were over .500 slightly the year they got Vasilevsky and had been to the conference finals the year before. Not to mention it took 7ish years to get to the finals after getting their two top picks. That would be an awfully long rebuild if that was the foundation. IMO not a good example.
Pittsburg - Also a traditional example used for this philosophy. This one is a tough one. As they did get bad, and got bad fast. They then had a great turn around. But lets remember they picked top 2 4 years in a row. Had the Oilers not been as awful as they were a few years later, people would still be talking about that streak. And again, outside the Oilers and McDavid, its not every day you luck into a generational talent like Crosby. Oddly, outside the top picks, its not like they had stockpiled a lot of picks those years. They just made the most of what they got up top. IMO this is a good example, but not sure you want to count their amazing luck as something you can count on. (they even had an additional top 5 pick that started their streak in 02 with Ryan Whitney)
Los Angeles - Another team with a 10 year playoff series drought. They had a couple extra first rounders in 06 and 08 after having 3 in 03. But I am not sure they ever really went scorched earth. They were mediocre for a number of years and then managed to ride defense and Jonathan Quick for all he was worth. Oddly, they went straight bad to mediocrity after that 2nd cup and haven't won a series since then. Doughty was certainly a great lottery pick, but Kopitar was 3 years earlier and Brown 2 before that. So to me thats just mediocre for a while and managing to pick up pieces along the way. IMO not a good example.
I know its a long read, but to me, I'm not sure a single team actively blew up their roster to make this happen. Even the Penguins who fit the bill, what did they blow up pre-lockout? Lemieux retired and they didn't have much else. What did the Blackhawks blow up? Eric Daze and Tony Amonte?!?!?!
People love to think these teams had shrewd management that was long term focused at the expense of the short term. To me they were mostly chronically bad teams that got lucky at the draft.