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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Completely dismissive of the fact that you note Stamkos and Hedman who were keys to building that team (I think Hedman is probably the most important piece there).
Tampa fits what I'm saying to a damn letter.
They drafted their foundational pieces at the top of the draft, and then went on to be excellent at drafting and trades. You think they win those cups without Hedman? I don't, but speculation aside - they had both Stamkos and Hedman.
You need to do both, draft at the top and draft/develop/trade excellently. If you do one without the other, you don't win.