Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.
Because you need a control group to see if your theory actually pans out.
Lots of teams have had top 5 picks and not won. That’s your comparison to see if your theory holds water or if it’s just true-true-and-unrelated.
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My control group is every team to win the Stanley Cup in the cap era.
The Detroit Red Wings, who were built in a time with no salary cap and $90M teams playing $18M ones, are the only exception.
It’s not just because of the players you get at the top, but because of the supplementary selections and acquisitions you make while you’re not pushing all your chips to the table.
Drafting four top-64 players for three years in a row does a lot.
Trading Matt Duchene for the pick that becomes Bowen Byram, both for the young player, and the salary it frees up.
Keep some of your good players. Sell some that have higher value, because what this team needs is only found in the draft.
Trading for it is counterproductive unless you’re in a Vegas situation where doing so won’t cripple your franchise.
Draft it, develop it, and do this the right way.
Order of operations matters.