Who does the most with least?... i.e., what teams draft best without top picks??

[Circulartheory]

Minnesota has terrible drafting.

Minnesota has good European pro scouting

 

[BennyBST]

Minnesota has terrible drafting.

Minnesota has good European pro scouting

I never liked the cuma selection, at least they got scandella that draft, and I liked the zucker pick last year.

 

[Future]

Leafs are near the top

Gunnarsson-4th round
Reimer-4th round 99th overall
Frattin-4th round 99th overall
Kulemin-(30G 30A) 2nd round
Kaberle-7th round

are some big ones.

 

[superhakan]

Since 2007 calgary has drafted after 2nd round:

4th- Keith Aulie- 2nd pairing D
2nd- Mitch Wahl- recovering from injury 2nd/3rd line C
4th- TJ Brodie- great skating D, broke camp with cgy this year
3rd- Lance Bouma- 4th liner but a good one
3rd- Ryan Howse- 51 goals in WHL this year
3rd- Max Reinhardt- leading team in Reg season/playoff scoring (5 goal game included)
3rd- John Ramage- Captain USA WJ team
6th- Joni Ortio- Starting goalie for finland in WJC

not bad for a team with limited draft picks.

 

[birddog*]

I know the obvious answer is Detroit with Zetterberg and Datsyuk seems to be one that jumps out.

However I would love to know who people think are the best drafting teams... not teams that have had consecutive top 5 picks, but have consistently done well with their drafting.

One team I personally think of (other than Detroit) is Nashville.

Always do well with their picks it seems, but never super high picks, just good solid drafting.

What other teams draft well?
What teams don't fair so well at the drafting table?

Detroit is over-rated unless you want to go back 15 years.

Recently Washington and Philadelphia have unearthed some nice gems late in the first round.

 

[Bure]

I think Washington is up there.

Schultz 27th
Green 29th
B. Gordon 197th
Varlamov 23rd
Neuvrith 34th
Perreault 177th
Carlson 27th
Holtby 93rd
Johansson 24th
Orlov 55th
Eakin 85th
Wey 115th
Kuznetsov 26th
Galiev 86th

 

[Seguins Dragon*]

I think Washington is up there.

Schultz 27th
Green 29th
B. Gordon 197th
Varlamov 23rd
Neuvrith 34th
Perreault 177th
Carlson 27th
Holtby 93rd
Johansson 24th
Orlov 55th
Eakin 85th
Wey 115th
Kuznetsov 26th
Galiev 86th

Impressive list, didn't even think of Washington, defiently deserves props.

 

[Minister of Offence]

I think Washington is up there.

Schultz 27th
Green 29th
B. Gordon 197th
Varlamov 23rd
Neuvrith 34th
Perreault 177th
Carlson 27th
Holtby 93rd
Johansson 24th
Orlov 55th
Eakin 85th
Wey 115th
Kuznetsov 26th
Galiev 86th

Can't believe it took this long.

People rag on the Caps all they want, most of their best players are years from their prime and they are built for longevity. Johansson's an absolute gem and Kuznetsov and and Orlov are going to be players.

GMGM knows his org will have a lot more tries.

 

[Minister of Offence]

Leafs are near the top

Gunnarsson-4th round
Reimer-4th round 99th overall
Frattin-4th round 99th overall
Kulemin-(30G 30A) 2nd round
Kaberle-7th round

are some big ones.

Huge ones, they are certainly near the top.

Nope, I lied.

 

[Felkov]

Leafs are near the top

Gunnarsson-4th round
Reimer-4th round 99th overall
Frattin-4th round 99th overall
Kulemin-(30G 30A) 2nd round
Kaberle-7th round

are some big ones.

I lol'd

 

[Chainshot]

The criteria seem to fall into a couple of categories --

- Who does well outside of lottery picks?
- Who does well outside of the first round?
- Who does well after the middle of the draft?

And all of those range from recent history back into the mid-'90's for various rankings/comments as well as players of various stripes (prospects, part-time re-call types, and full-time NHLers).

 

[WreckItRask]

I lol'd

That is funny.

Leafs are near the top

Gunnarsson-4th round
Reimer-4th round 99th overall
Frattin-4th round 99th overall
Kulemin-(30G 30A) 2nd round
Kaberle-7th round

are some big ones.

I thought the Kaberle one was funnier. Are we really going back to the mid-90's in this thread? Kaberle was drafted 15 years ago.

 

[Future]

I lol'd

Am I missing the joke? Kulemin finished the season with 30 goals and 27 assists as a 24 year old drafted 44th overall in 2006. What was funny about that?

http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473579

 

[Future]

That is funny.



I thought the Kaberle one was funnier. Are we really going back to the mid-90's in this thread? Kaberle was drafted 15 years ago.

The OP named Zetterberg and Datsyuk. What is wrong with naming Kaberle

 

[newfy]

It never ceases to amaze that the Wings get mentioned for things they did a dozen or more years ago.

Some teams have had success finding later round gems. In the last decade, the Hawks have picked the following regulars in the fifth round or later:


Adam Burish
James Wisniewski
Dustin Byfuglien
Jake Dowell
Troy Brouwer

....The Canadiens:

Matt D'Augostini
Sergei Kostitsyn
Mark Streit
Mikhail Grabovski
Jaro Halak


To find one NHL regular every other year from round five on? Pretty solid.

Some teams have success in the first round regarless -- the Flyers make that pick work year upon year, rarely picking in the top half of the round.

I find it amazing people still try to say Detroit isnt a great late round drafting team. In the 2000s the wings have had Kopecky, Hudler, Fleischman, Filppula, Ericcson (last pick in entire draft), Jim Howard, Quincey, and Franzen who are all impact players in the NHL right now outside of the first round.

Than there are guys like Helm who is looking like a potential top 6 player all of a sudden and Abdelkader who is playing huge defensive minutes for the wings already as a shut down center. They are just breaking into the NHL and have potential ahead of them. Noone knows after this point who will be good for the wings because they haven't gotten a chance yet.

Mursak is a 6th round pick who is as a fast as Helm and will make the NHL next year. The list goes on and on.

That list of players is extrmemely solid and at least as good as any other teams list in the past decade

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

The criteria seem to fall into a couple of categories --

- Who does well outside of lottery picks?
- Who does well outside of the first round?
- Who does well after the middle of the draft?

A few years ago I looked at draft picks from 1987-2001 and found the following:

New Jersey had the best success rate outside the 1st round (12 out of 24 second rounders became NHLers). They also had the second best record at finding top level NHLers.

They were followed by Montreal, Colorado, Carolina and San Jose.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=322860

Wish I had time to update it and add in more recent years.

 

[Circulartheory]

I never liked the cuma selection, at least they got scandella that draft, and I liked the zucker pick last year.

It would have been great to see Cuma develop without all those injuries. And Zucker and the rest of the 2010 draft was the new GM's first draft so thats promising. But the latter years of the Doug Riseborough was oh so terrible. Thelen, Pouliot, Sheppard, Cuma, Gillies (who is looking better, thank god).

But our free agent finds have been pretty good. In recent years, we've found:

John Scott
Niklas Backstrom
Joel Ward <- not sure if he really counts
Jared Spurgeon

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

That list of players is extrmemely solid and at least as good as any other teams list in the past decade

Every fan does what you've done and list players and prospects "their" team has found. Then there is this guy and that guy and another guy who is coming next year. But every team has prospects "who havent had a chance yet". It's all subjective, especially when you start naming every single drafted player by your favorite team as an impact guy.

I agree that Detroit's drafting looks like it has improved in recent years - it used to be terrible. It still jumps out that most of these players you named are from Europe - they are still not getting many from the giant player pools in Canada and America - how does that compare to the rest of the NHL?

To convince neutrals you need to be more rigorous and compare the number of players (and picks / rounds) to all the other 29 NHL teams. Ideally you'd do it from a neutral point of view, rather than selecting specific draft years to favour your team. If your team does well, so much the better.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

But our free agent finds have been pretty good. In recent years, we've found:

John Scott
Niklas Backstrom
Joel Ward <- not sure if he really counts
Jared Spurgeon

Zbynek Michalek was a FA find as well (before trading to Phoenix in a minor deal).

 

[DaveG]

A few years ago I looked at draft picks from 1987-2001 and found the following:

New Jersey had the best success rate outside the 1st round (12 out of 24 second rounders became NHLers). They also had the second best record at finding top level NHLers.

They were followed by Montreal, Colorado, Carolina and San Jose.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=322860

Wish I had time to update it and add in more recent years.

I say this as a Canes fan

MIND = BLOWN

Seriously, if there was any major complaint about the Canes pre-lockout it was our pathetic farm system and lack of organizational depth. Frightening that they actually rank in the upper half of the league in your study. Then again, as you said in your findings the issue has usually been finding stars until recently (Ward, Staal, Skinner).

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

really? Teemu Pulkkinen was a steal for the 4th round, Tomas Tatar looks like a gem, Gustav Nyquist is amazing and was a 4th round pick. They continue to draft very well even after the lockout.

my top 3 are Detroit, Montreal, and Nashville.

However good these prospects look now, they have not made, and may not make, an NHL impact.

If we restrict the discussion parameters to actual NHL accomplishments and not the nebulous world of projection, Detroit's drafting hasn't been anything special over the past decade. Certainly not bad, but nowhere near the legend it's made out to be on account of their drafting between '89 and '99.

 

[Falcons93]

really? Teemu Pulkkinen was a steal for the 4th round, Tomas Tatar looks like a gem, Gustav Nyquist is amazing and was a 4th round pick. They continue to draft very well even after the lockout.

my top 3 are Detroit, Montreal, and Nashville.

What have those three done in the NHL?

 

[cupface52]

WSH - Green, Carlson, Schultz, Johansson
NSH - Weber, Suter, Franson, Rinne
PHI - Giroux, Carter, Richards, Downie

Last 10 years, picks outside the top 10 (except for Suter #7).

 

[Sens With Benefits]

Sens

Kelly 3rd round
Alfredsson 4th round
Brooks Laich 6th round
Ray Emery 4th round
Chris Neil 6th round
Sami Salo 9th round

Obviously not all around but still decent lateish draft picks.

 

[Soundgarden]

Nashville:

Martin Erat-7th round, 191
Jordin Tootoo-4th round, 98
Kevin Klein-2nd round, 37
Shea Weber-2nd round, 49
Pekka Rinne- 8th round, 258
Cody Franson- 3rd round, 79
Cal O'Reilly(before December was actually playing great) 5th round, 150
Patric Hornqvist- round 7, 230(last pick of the draft)
Blake Geoffrion- round 2, 56
Jon Blum 1st round- 23
Nick Spaling- 2 round, 58
Anders Lindback- 7th round, 207

All of the above have contributed to the team this season, so it doesn't include prospects. I think in the end 2009 is going to turn out to be a hell of a year in terms of Nashville prospects.