Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhett44
In the east: Florida, Tampa, Carolina.
In the west: Colorado, Vegas, Edmonton, Minnesota (after the Hughes trade).
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Minnesota is another interesting “model.” They’ve basically been mushy middle competitive for the last few years as they waited out their massive buyout penalties, forced to make smart, patient moves and develop their players.
They don’t, to my knowledge, have any top five picks, but have built team loyalty and found stars all over the draft (Kaprizov being the key one).
Their patience allowed them to pounce on an opportunity to grab another superstar and now they’re legitimate threats.
People keep pointing to the Dallas model or drafting top 3, but there are a number of different systems and strategies that can build contenders. But all of them include drafting well. As much as I’d like to see at this point the vets traded and a top pick, this patient path will lead to another competitive window.