I mentioned the Dallas model in a previous thread and so think it’s mostly about getting multiple impact players in a single draft. To me, that’s what really sets them apart.
Most rebuilds take a long time because teams average drafting one (if they are lucky) impact player per year and that player usually comes from their own draft pick which is usually pretty high (in the top 10). I know rebuilding teams will often get other first and second round picks in trades but the mode are almost always late round picks (outside the top 20 of a draft)… those players either rarely ever become impact players in the NHL or they take a long time to ever reach that level. If a team is averaging one core/impact BHL player per year through the draft, it takes 5-6 years at least to develop your full core… so it can take that long before you are ready to be competitive.
What’s unique with Dallas is that they got 3 impact/core players in a single draft and they complemented them with veteran players. Those two combinations meant they didn’t need to develop a new core over the span of 5/6 years… instead it was done in 2-3 years.
It’s easy to say “draft well and develop well” but if it was that easy, everyone would do it. Dallas is a very good drafting team but they also got very lucky with their picks in 2017. Hard to try and replicate getting top players with fast development curves using later draft picks. That would be like saying the flames are going to plan their rebuild today around getting one of the top 5 NHL defencemen with their 2024 first round pick, one of the top 10 NHL goal scorers with Vancouver’s pick and one of the top 3 goaltenders in the NHL with their second round pick. While that would be incredible, it’s hard to plan on that happening.
In my opinion, the closest way to follow the Dallas model would be to get multiple high (top 10) picks in a single draft. Again, easier said than done but if that can be accomplished, it gives your team a huge head start on development of a new young core.
Imagine somehow being able to turn Andersson + Markstrom + Vancouver’s 2024 first round pick + Calgary’s 2024 2nd round pick + Dallas’s 2024 2nd round pick into two picks in the top 10 of the draft. Not sure if that could be done but that would give Calgary 3 picks in the top 10 and a head start on rebuilding their core. Lindstrom-Iginla-Yakemchuk… Catton-Buium-Helenius… there all all kinds of interesting combinations of players you could take that gives your team the best chance to rebuild as a fast as possible. Combine those 3 players with what is likely a top 5 pick next year and the “bottoming out” phase hopefully ends up being pretty short.
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