I appreciate the kind words. Unfortunately, my last thread wasn't all that well received because folks took the NBA comparison section of my post to heart and thought I was saying the NBA had more parity as a whole, and wouldn't let that, or the "Boston is a fluke" part go.
Ultimately, busts will always occur. The thing about the back to back top-5 picks rule is that teams with back to back top-5 picks will always be able to recover from busts because they will eventually draft a no brainer superstar. Look at LA. A year before they drafted Doughty, they drafted Thomas Hickey 4th overall. Now, most folks will say that Hickey is not relevant to the back to back top-5 picks rule; he was waived and never played a game for them. However, this is actually precisely why he is relevant to the discussion! What Hickey was was an opportunity for them to select a franchise player. They failed. They could have picked Jakub Voracek (was chosen 6th), Logan Couture (9th), Ryan McDonagh (12th), or Kevin Shattenkirk (14th), all of whom were bonafide stars by the time they won their first Cup. However, none of those guys are true franchise players; the only franchise players available at that point were Subban and Benn, but neither of those guys were even ranked in the 1st round. Because they drafted back to back, they got another opportunity in 2008, with which they didn't miss; they picked Doughty. Then a year later, with their 3rd straight top-5 pick, they picked Brayden Schenn; the main piece in the Mike Richards trade.
Same applies to Chicago. While they only had two back to back top-5 picks (both of which were slam dunk franchise players), they had other top-13 (playoff miss) picks, including another top-3 pick that was a bust. They picked Cam Barker 3rd overall in 2004, Jack Skille 7th overall in 2005, and Kyle Beach 11th overall in 2008. All 3 were total busts, the only one with any contribution to a Stanley Cup was Cam Barker who they traded for Nick Leddy who was important but not key to their 2013 Cup win.
The point is, some busts will happen. By drafting top-5 enough times, you are eventually guaranteeing a bonafide can't miss franchise player, as LA got with Doughty in 2008, and Chicago did with Toews and Kane. Pittsburgh didn't make awful picks in Whitney, MAF and Staal, but definitely left better players on the board in Semin/Lupul, the entire 2003 draft class, and Toews/Backstrom, respectively. However, they got 2 slam dunk can't miss franchise centers in Malkin and Crosby. Edmonton fits the mold as well; they probably messed up with Hall, RNH, Yakupov (and Nurse, who wasn't top-5), but outside of Seguin in 2010, they didn't really miss out on any true bonafide franchise players. However, after enough top-5 picks, they eventually got a can't miss franchise player handed to them in McDavid.
Another thing I would like to bring up, in regards to the group of fans who constantly mention the amount of teams that have made the SCF, and how close some teams were. How do you feel about blatant tanking? How do you feel about a GM building a team that is designed to lose as many games as possible? How do you feel about the 2014-2015 Buffalo Sabres?
In my opinion, that season was an absolute disgrace to the game of hockey. In a year where the highest touted prospect of the past decade is available in the next draft, the Buffalo Sabres made a blatant effort to lose every single game and earn the highest odds of drafting said player. Of course, the Edmonton Oilers, who had already had taken half of the first overall picks made that decade, won the lottery (a ridiculous system, btw) and got that generational talent. The Sabres got Jack Eichel, a fine consolation prize and an elite franchise center in his own right.
Guess what? The Buffalo Sabres had already drafted in the top-5 the year before. They selected Sam Reinhart. If teams were not allowed back to back top-5 draft picks, the Sabres would not have engaged in that horrid abomination of a season that blatantly disrespected every single team they played against. That season is not only unfair to the fans who paid to watch that Buffalo team, it was unfair to the teams in every division besides the Atlantic, as they did not get as many chances to rack up points against that joke of a team.
Yet, because of this abomination of a season, their future is actually looking bright! They have the #1 most important piece for a championship team: an elite franchise center. The organization was actually rewarded, not punished, for icing that utter joke of a team.
