No, not every organization has those high draft picks with upside. Plenty of teams have drafted bust upon bust in the first couple rounds several years in a row. Washington hasn't.
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How do you know about other teams? You later on said;
Most players take 4 or 5 years to make an impact. We can't really even judge the '99 draft yet. Look at some of the guys from '97 and '98 who are JUST NOW starting to establish themselves.
It's hard to overlook that their drafting has been poor for some time now, but I'm looking at more of the present.
Doesn't really matter how many busts or write-offs they grab in the later rounds if they've drafted solidly in the first few rounds now does it?[/
But really, are the Capitals drafting
that well in the first round? I think they did great in 2002, not so great in earlier years. But this all falls under the "IMO" category. We can debate each and every prospect's current status and upside forever, and not gain any ground.
Stephens and Paetsch went 4 and 5 rounds lower respectively when they re-entered.
What reentry doesn't go lower? There
are exceptions, of course.
And I wasn't arguing they were top 10, I was just arguing that their drafting wasn't atrocious. And it isn't if you look at the horrible job done by other teams in the past. Some teams didn't get a single above average player in several consecutive drafts.
And the jury is still out on a number of draft years for lots of teams, including the Capitals.
One last point and that is that I've heard quotes from several players about how terrible the farm team of the Penguins was and how they didn't improve, didn't have direction, etc (Andy Ference among others.) If you don't recognize that this could have played a role in Lupaschuk, Beech's and Sivek's development then you aren't considering all the angles.
I don't consider it because I think, however bad the communication may have been, players were still gettinga ton of ice time and being coached some semblance of a system. Glenn Patrick turned out to be an awful teacher, but some prospects seem to think they need their hand held at all times. Beech, Lupaschuk, and Sivek are now under someone who stresses communication first and foremost, and has lots of experience with developing young kids, and to be honest, the three aren't exactly making up for lost time.