Good article on how aggressive contenders were at the deadline this year, and how the conservative attitudes over moving 1st rounders has given way to the ‘flags fly forever’ approach of the top teams like TB, VGK, and FLA.
One of the more interesting aspects is the comparative value of early vs late 1sts.
Quote:
That's not to say first-round picks lack value. Nearly half of the league is made up of former first-rounders, with 44 percent of skaters who have played 20-plus games this season being selected in that round.
But their value tends to be highly concentrated among the best of those picks, with a 10th pick holding more than three times the value of a 30th selection. Even then, those high picks typically take years to be realized, especially when it comes to helping a contending club win it all.
Drafting a talented 18-year-old out of junior hockey at No. 25 isn't going to pay dividends for teams like the Lightning or Leafs for four or five years, at which point Nikita Kucherov and Auston Matthews and the rest of their stars may age out of their primes or blow out a knee or head off to free agency.
And that's if you can hit on the pick, which is a coin flip at best given fewer than 50 percent of late first-rounders get to the 100-game mark.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/618...shared_article
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