Speculation: If we'd drafted differently.

[SlapJack]

We where 1 of the few teams in 2003 to not do well at the draft. We picked Eaves in Round 1, could have got Loui Eriksson or Shea Weber a few picks later.

Eaves was as good a choice or better than 14 of the next 15 selections that year. It's easy to look at guys picked 20-30-40 slots later and say, "wow we coulda grabbed that guy!", but in reality they did get the best guy at the time and things changed.

There weren't that many drafted after Eaves who were stars, we only remember Weber, Bergeron and Backes because they did flourish later. There were 38 picks in the 2nd round that year and maybe 5 guys were clearly better than Eaves.

And really, only a handful of teams truly prospered from that draft, notables being Philadelphia, Anaheim, and Nashville. 12 years later, one Stanley cup between those 3, and that was Anaheim using those picks strictly as depth players to a strong core.

 

[Bileur]

I can't really complain about the Eaves pick when I was hoping for Anthony Stewart (until florida picked him) and then Ryan Stone.

 

[Back in Black]

Daigle was a must pick for Ottawa. He was the best forward available and for marketing reasons the only choice they could make. Without the 100% benefit of hindsight no Ottawa GM would have picked differently without a revolt and some immediate firings.

 

[Xspyrit]

If we'd drafted differently... we'd have a different team?

/thread


No seriously, the line-up proposed in the OP could be the SAME or better/worse (more or less) depending where the teams usually draft.

I mean for example, Gaudreau was a 4th round pick and Benn a 5th round pick... Which team got a better pick with their 1st those years?

Answer : not a lot.

And even if they did for ONE player, doesn't necessarily mean they did for others...

I know it's just for discussion, but that system is flawed IMO because there is no team that wouldn't have a SIGNIFICANTLY better line-up IF...

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

If we'd drafted differently... we'd have a different team?

/thread


No seriously, the line-up proposed in the OP could be the SAME or better/worse (more or less) depending where the teams usually draft.

I mean for example, Gaudreau was a 4th round pick and Benn a 5th round pick... Which team got a better pick with their 1st those years?

Answer : not a lot.

And even if they did for ONE player, doesn't necessarily mean they did for others...

I know it's just for discussion, but that system is flawed IMO because there is no team that wouldn't have a SIGNIFICANTLY better line-up IF...

Dude....sometimes it's fun to simply lay down in the grass and look at clouds.

It's a discussion board. Not the last seconds of a code red in the ER. Nothing we write on here has any impact outside of these boards.

Relax a little. Your heart will thank you down the road. :pillow:

 

[Xspyrit]

Dude....sometimes it's fun to simply lay down in the grass and look at clouds.

It's a discussion board. Not the last seconds of a code red in the ER. Nothing we write on here has any impact outside of these boards.

Relax a little. Your heart will thank you down the road. :pillow:

Uh... I have no idea where you got that impression. Believe me, I am VERY relax, heck people insult me and I don't even care lol. The first part of my post was a joke obviously, hence the "no seriously, ..." right after...

Then I was just saying that this whole thing doesn't work because you could do it for every team and get a similar result. I kinda tought about this after reading post #6 and #11. But I found this interesting enough to open the thread and post a few random thoughts...

It was really food for thought, I don't have anything better to propose... But I am just saying that even the best draft team in the league would have a similar result doing that exercise. I wasn't calling out the OP AT ALL, because it was respectful and it didn't bash anybody... so let's all relax

 

[Madskillz65]

I really do get all of the draft choices we made... The only one that really hurts me is trading the Tarasenko pick for Rundblad. Every time I think about it I get a little upset.

 

[PatrickEaves]

Eaves was great until Colby Armstrong took his head off.

That was the second major head injury of his career (had a broken neck in college), and it kinda made him tentative. Early in his career Eaves never shied away from the front of the net and was very very good at getting open and scoring on passes and loose pucks to the slot.

It's like people didn't watch this team play when Eaves was in his rookie season or something.

 

[Bileur]

Eaves was great until Colby Armstrong took his head off.

That was the second major head injury of his career (had a broken neck in college), and it kinda made him tentative. Early in his career Eaves never shied away from the front of the net and was very very good at getting open and scoring on passes and loose pucks to the slot.

It's like people didn't watch this team play when Eaves was in his rookie season or something.

IIRC his play style was similar to Gallagher but less dirty.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

I really do get all of the draft choices we made... The only one that really hurts me is trading the Tarasenko pick for Rundblad. Every time I think about it I get a little upset.

That one doesn't bother me because it was clear Murray had no intention of drafting him. It was Schwartz or bust that year for Bryan.