Cup Winners: Post-Lockout High Picks

[BayStBullies]

I was looking into past drafts and stumbled upon something I found interesting. Hopefully someone finds this equally interesting...



Interesting Drafting Facts - Stanley Cup Winners (Post Lockout):
- 8 out of 9 Cup Winners: Had a top 3 pick post lockout
- Only 1 Team Didn't Draft High Post-Lockout: Detroit Red Wings

2005 Draft Lottery:
- 5 out of 9 Cup Winners: Drafted a Significant Player in the 2005 Lottery Draft
- Teams With a 2005 Top 3 Pick: Have won the cup post lockout
- Anaheim and Carolina received top 3 picks; despite not having tier 1 odds
- Los Angeles didn't get a high pick; but came away with Anze Kopitar
- Not a cup winner, but notably; Montreal came away with Carey Price (pick 5)
- Jonathan Quick (72) and Kris Letang (62) also came out of this random draft order drawing

I find it crazy how much impact a random lottery draft may have had on the Stanley Cup winning teams post lockout. The drafting pool at the time had a lot of top end talent. Things could have been very different if those balls were drawn differently.

I also find it startlingly how quickly these teams bounced from the bottom to the top. It should also pay respect to Detroit, for not being among this group of teams.

Draft Picks:

Carolina
2004 - 4 - Andrew Ladd
2005 - 3 - Jack Johnson

Anaheim
2005 - 2 - Bobby Ryan

Pittsburgh
2004 - 2 - Evgeni Malkin
2005 - 1 - Sidney Crosby
2006 - 2 - Jordan Staal

Boston
2006 - 5 - Phil Kessel *
2010 - 2 - Tyler Seguin

Chicago x2
2004 - 3 - Cam Barker
2006 - 3 - Jonathan Toews
2007 - 1 - Patrik Kane

Los Angeles x2
2005 - 11 - Anze Kopitar **
2008 - 2 - Drew Doughty
2009 - 5 - Brayden Schenn

Note: All of these picks happened from that lockout off season, up until the noted team won the cup. The list focuses on top 5 picks only.

* Phil Kessel was traded before Boston won the cup; however, that trade lead to another top 5 pick prior to the cup win
** Anze Kopitar was not top 5; but was noted as a significant takeaway from that random 2005 draft

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[WarriorofTime]

Yeah tanking is the right idea. Or you can be Toronto.

 

[GREASYGRINDERDETROIT]

Does anyone else feel that the Detroit Red Wings should do a "Crash with Blash" this upcoming season and pull off a mini-tank in order to get a couple high picks for a season or two? At this point its the most realistic path to put us in contention and I'm fairly confident that management wouldn't totally gump it and keep us there for a decade.

 

[Prairie Habs]

Bobby Ryan didn't play for the Ducks the year they won the cup.

Jack Johnson never played for the Canes much less the year they won the cup. He was also traded after they won so the return didn't help them either.

Andrew Ladd played for the Canes when they won but he only had 5 points in 17 games. I wouldn't really call that significant.

They did have Eric Staal though.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Brayden Schenn was part of the trade to Philly for Mike Richards.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

That's why top 3 picks hardly if ever get traded before the draft. When you hear GMs say they are listening to offers, it means very little.