[Sylvanfan]

I still think lottery luck plays a lot bigger factor than it's made out to be. The real top talent tends to be in the top 3 picks, and often there is a split from 1 to 2. The reason the first version of Edmonton's rebuild failed was because the players were not as good as they thought. Chicago never wins any cups if they don't get Kane, same with Pittsburgh and Crosby. Likewise San Jose would still be dredging out at the bottom of the standings if they didn't get Celebrini.

You need to be patient and not rush things to come out of the rebuild, which has tended to be an issue for the Canadian based teams. At this point a team like the Flames to me is still 4-5 years out because they don't have any true top end talent at forward. It will be the players they pick at the top of the next three drafts that have to lead them out of the darkness.