Hello loyal readers,
The Bri-Man is so sick of Media reporters saying how their home team should “tank the season” so they can acquire the top pick in the NHL Entry Draft. It’s become so annoying to hear everyone talk about it like it’s the only strategy to build an NHL dynasty.
I totally agree with TSN’s Pierre Maguire that nobody in the NHL actually wants to lose a game, let alone multiple games that would provide teams the best possible chance to win the first pick overall in an Entry Draft. The fact that anyone thinks that NHL teams want to lose is ridiculous.
Think about it for a minute. Why would a team want to lose? Let’s take the Toronto Maple Leafs as a prime example. The 2009 Trade Deadline was only a couple weeks, but even if Brian Burke had traded away all of the Leafs good players (including Jason Blake, Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, etc.) with the intention of losing every single game for the remainder of the season, there would still be a significant problem. The problem is Brian Burke doesn’t lace up the skates every game so it would be pretty difficult for him to lose every game, wouldn’t it?
The common thinking is that the higher the draft pick, the better the player and the more “NHL-ready” that player is on draft day. In recent years, Patrick Kane was the first overall pick in 2007, Sidney Crosby was first overall in 2005, Alex Ovechkin was first overall in 2004 and the list goes on. All three of these players made immediate impacts on their respective teams. Having said that, I wonder if any of these other so-called “hockey insiders” have asked themselves why players on “non-playoff teams” want to lose? If they’re already playing for their jobs for the following season (theoretically), does it really make sense that they would want to increase their competition by losing a bunch of games and having some 18 year old kid that was taken first overall in the Entry Draft take their job?
While it certainly does help to finish at or near the bottom of the league in order to acquire high draft picks, it’s not the only thing that matters. Critics will point to the Pittsburgh Penguins brutal years in 2002-2006 to say that “tanking your season” is the best/only way to rebuild your team. Here is Pittsburgh’s drafting record during these years:
-
2002 – Ryan Whitney – 5th Overall
2003 – Marc-Andre Fleury – 1st Overall
2004 – Evgeni Malkin – 2nd Overall
2005 – Sidney Crosby – 1st Overall
2006 – Jordan Stall – 2nd Overall
At first glance, it’s hard to argue against the “lose as often as possible” strategy if you know you won’t make the playoffs. I will say that when you have the first or second overall pick for 4 consecutive years, it’s pretty hard to screw that up and not build a Stanley Cup contender! Honestly, just having Malkin and Crosby is enough to give any team a good chance to make the playoffs.
The real way to rebuild your team, however, is through quality drafting. Yes, Pittsburgh drafted correctly when they chose Malkin and Crosby but they had to lose a lot of hockey games to get these picks. These were also two of the most “can’t miss” players of our time. Look at the perennial contenders like Detroit, San Jose and New Jersey and you’ll see where I’m going here. When was the last time any of these teams held a 1st overall draft pick? San Jose have only missed the playoffs once in the past 11 seasons. Detroit have earned 100 points in 8 consecutive seasons now – how does that happen? Through solid drafting, that’s how. When you can pick all-star caliber players like Henrik Zetterberg (7th round, 210th overall) and Pavel Datsyuk (6th round, 171st overall), you’ll always be a contender. Especially if you have good leadership, strong coaching, and you develop your players properly.
And then there’s the New Jersey Devils. Let’s take a moment to examine New Jersey’s current roster. Here’s how they acquired some of their top players:
-
Martin Brodeur – Drafted by NJ in the 1st round, 20th overall in 1990
Zack Parise – Drafted by NJ in the 1st round, 17th overall in 2003 (still scratching my head as to how this guy got overlooked by 16 teams!)
Brian Gionta – Drafted by NJ in the 3rd round, 82nd overall in 1998
Paul Martin – Drafted by NJ in the 2nd round, 62nd overall in 2000
Patrik Elias – Drafted by NJ in the 2nd round, 51st overall in 1994
John Madden – Undrafted (was passed over by every team in the 1993 Entry Draft and signed as a UFA the following year. Notably, of the 286 players drafted in 1993, only 34 have played more career NHL games than Madden)
The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter where you draft. Every single player listed above could’ve been had by many other teams. With the exception of Brodeur and Parise, every player was passed over by every other NHL team at least once. That proves that drafting really is about quality. In the end, it all comes down to who you draft, how you develop them, and how long you retain them.
Your Reporter in the Field,
Brian Fantana
Follow us on Twitter or be our friend on Facebook.
Trackbacks /
Pingbacks