Quote:
Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug
I certainly agree with the conclusions. This will likely take a number of years to bounce back. My only quibble is this paragraph:
Most of the other teams in the draft lottery picture this year have blue-chippers at the forefront of their systems. Columbus has Adam Fantilli; Montreal has Juraj Slafkovsky; San Jose has Will Smith; Arizona has Logan Cooley; Anaheim has Leo Carlsson; Chicago has Connor Bedard. The Flames don’t, and they’ll probably have to make a top-three pick to get one. Barring an unexpected lottery win, they won’t pick in that range this year.
Blue-chippers, sure, but they may not be "core" players (apart from Bedard) which is the measuring stick you are using for the Flames. The Flames have never had a top 3 pick, but they have had core players, so they can be obtained through other ways. It will still take time (at least 5 years in my opinion).
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It took the Pens 5 years to gather their team through the draft, starting with Ray Whitney 5OA, MAF 1OA, Malkin 2OA, Crosby 1OA and Staal 2OA. After Crosby it still took a year to make it to the POs and two years to go deep, three to win the cup. A 7 year process from the first high pick to the cup. 5 years of top 5 picks (4 of them top 2).