Looking just at the 2006-2011 drafts, we've seen a few superstars, and TONNES of very good players go outside of the first round, including:
- Jamie Benn (in the conversation for top forward in the league)
- PK Subban (in the conversation for top dman in the league)
- Gaudreau
- ROR
- Josi
- Faulk
- Klingberg
- Hamonic
- Toffoli
- Stepan
- Kucherov
- Tyler Johnson (undrafted)
- Palat
- Mark Stone
- TJ Brodie
- Nyqvist
- Lucic
- Marchand
- Voynov
- Henrique
- Barrie
- Tatar
- Gallagher
- Jenner
- Jurco
- Jaskin
- John Gibson
- etc.
We'll continue to see lots from the more recent drafts, too, as they get older. There's plenty of talent to be had outside the first round, you just need a combination of great scouting and some luck to snag it. Look at the Dallas Stars, currently tied for 1st in the league, and their top forward (Benn) and top dman (Klingberg) were both later round picks. Their other mega star, Seguin, was a very high pick, but they got him in a trade where the two main pieces going back were guys they picked in the 2nd and 3rd rounds (Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith).
Obviously the first round has the main concentration of talent, but scouting is far from perfect, there's still tonnes of talent to be had in the later rounds if you draft well.
2nd round picks are almost as important as 1st round picks. Trading our 2nd rounder was almost an annual thing for Nonis, just incredible how bad he run this organization. Just look at our most recent 2nd round picks, one is trying to make TC at the WJHC and the other is putting up more than a PPG with Kitchener. Just keep the picks and select the BPA and we will be fine.