Elite Players And Stanley Cup Championships

[BillyD]

Gord Miller tweeted this yesterday:

Gord Miller ‏@GMillerTSN 29 Oct

From an NHL GM on the importance of elite players: except Col (01) the last 15 SC winners have had at least 1 player drafted in the top 5.

https://twitter.com/GMillerTSN/status/395276512548913152


That Colorado team had Peter Forsberg who was drafted 6th overall in the 1991 draft so really you can say every Cup winner since '98 has had at least one player drafted in the top 6.

By way of comparison look at the top 5 first rounders on the last 2 Stanley Cup champions contrasted with the Leafs roster as composed today:

Hawks '13: (2) Kane 1st '07; Toews 3rd '06; OTHER FIRST ROUNDERS: Hossa 12th '97; Seabrook 14th '03; Leddy 16th ' 09; Frolik 10th '06.

Kings '12: (2) Doughty 2nd '08; Johnson 3rd '05; OTHER FIRST ROUNDERS: Kopitar 11th '05; Williams 28th '00; Brown 13th '03; Richards 24th '03; Gagne 22nd '98; Carter 11th '03; Lewis 17th '06; Moreau 14th '94; Bernier 11th '06.

LEAFS TODAY: (3) JVR 2nd '07; Kessel 5th '07; Rielly 5th '12; OTHER FIRST ROUNDERS: Kadri 7th '09; Lupul 7th '02; Phaneuf 9th '03; Gardiner 17th '08; Ashton 29th '09; Bernier 11th '06.

The Oilers are currently an obvious counter-point to this measure, but if you accept the premise that top end draft picks on a roster can be a measure of elite talent on a team, it cannot be said the Leafs are lacking in this area, which is really pretty incredible when you think of where they stood a few years ago.

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[studebaker17]

Thats pretty general, virtually every team has top 5 picks on their roster and 2 teams that have won if I remember in Detroit and new Jersey didn't have any.

 

[Mess]

Kings '12: (2) Doughty 2nd '08; Johnson 3rd '05; OTHER FIRST ROUNDERS: Kopitar 11th '05; Williams 28th '00; Brown 13th '03; Richards 24th '03; Gagne 22nd '98; Carter 11th '03; Lewis 17th '06; Moreau 14th '94; Bernier 11th '06..

Just a Note: Jack Johnson was traded for Jeff Carter before the Kings won the Cup.

 

[studebaker17]

I always find it more impressive when the big game players or elite players on a winning team are drafted way outside the lottery. Every champ team has them also with maybe the exception of pitts

 

[Deebo]

I always find it more impressive when the big game players or elite players on a winning team are drafted way outside the lottery. Every champ team has them also with maybe the exception of pitts

Letang was a 3rd round pick for them.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Guess this doesn't bode well for Boston, Buffalo, and Calgary.

Literally all other 27 teams in the league have a former top 5 pick on the team. So I don't really get how this means anything really.

Next year it'll probably be 29/30 as Buffalo, and Calgary have really good shots at a top 5 pick this year.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

A few years back someone posted about the importance of having a top 5 pick and winning the Cup. Out of curiosity I went through 30 years of NHL teams (every single team in the league) and if memory serves I only found one team in a 30 year span that did NOT have at least one top 5 pick on it and that team happened to feature Gretzky, who didn't come via draft. Quickly leads to the conclusion that given pretty much every single team has one, it's a foregone conclusion the champion will.