Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
What Tampa did was draft Hedman and Stamkos really high in 08/09, then muddle around in the "mushy middle" for a couple years (in which they managed to make a couple fantastic mid first and 2nd round picks), get a 3OA in 2013 which they blew on Drouin, go back to the middle of the draft and get Point in the 3rd round in 2014 (after taking guys like D'Angelo earlier) and the futz around for 5 more years until they won the cup. They keys to their cup win were, in order, Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Point, Hedman and Stamkos, and the depth. The first three were not acquired with high picks.
I don't think they fit your pattern.
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100%.
People like to use the fact that Stamkos is a #1OA as proof of TBL being a good example of a tear it down rebuild. Not true at all. Stamkos is the least important of those guys, by a fair margin.
TBL knocked it out of the park with:
19: Vasilevskiy
58: Kucherov
72: Cirelli
77: Killorn
79: Point
208: Palat
They aren't proof of a tear it down rebuild, they are an example of how a couple homeruns at the draft table can change your franchise.
But that ebbs and flows - they haven't drafted anyone who has played 100 games in the NHL since 2017, and 200 games since 2016.
Drafting is hard. Sometimes you hit a home run, sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you get unlucky.