this
- isaiah520

Does anyone think it might've been possible to squeeze another 1st rounder out of columbus at the time of the trade?

Does anyone think it might've been possible to squeeze another 1st rounder out of columbus at the time of the trade?
- JAKEw1234

no?

Here's why asset management, as you're defining it here, is overrated:

Let's look at two teams: the Nashville Predators and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

By any metric, the Predators are a very successful NHL franchise, particularly when you consider that they are a small-market team. Very rarely has anyone considered them wasteful in the area of asset management.

Yet, at the same time, this fact cannot be ignored, as well: The Predators have NEVER, as in NEVER, advanced past the second round of the playoffs.

So how does that happen?

The Predators in previous seasons, including last year, have iced as many as five homegrown defensemen, including the likes of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. They've had a Vezina finalist in Pekka Rinne. They've had continuity in coaching and senior management...yet still, no real playoff success, and certainly not sustained playoff success.

Why? Because at some point, you have more assets than you need, and you need to cash those in. It's great, conceivably, to draft in the first round every single season. But if you're Nashville, and you've needed two top 6 forwards, including a center, for the last five years, is it truly better to continue accumulating assets -- none of whom are guaranteed to make it into the NHL -- simply because your philosophy is to not "waste" them?

Toronto was in the same position, but in a different fashion. If you believe what you read, Brian Burke was dismissed in part because he refused to use the full financial might of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment in order to improve the Maple Leafs. No back-diving contracts. No expending picks for exclusive negotiating rights. No trades at the trade deadline.

Now again, that's all fine and dandy...until you miss the playoffs, as a franchise, for 8 consecutive seasons.

My point is this: Even if they hit on every pick, the Flyers can't keep every single player they draft. They will not all develop at the same pace. Some will get hurt. Some will require financial compensation that the franchise isn't comfortable with. Some will choose to play elsewhere when they have the opportunity to leave.

The best asset management is this: Don't fall in love with draft picks you haven't made. Don't hold on to draft picks you did make for too long. Spend money when you have to. Swallow hard if you're close enough to smell the Cup, a la acquiring Chris Pronger, or pay through the nose if you truly think you can land a generational player, like Eric Lindros or Shea Weber.

Being the Philadelphia Flyers is better than being a fan of the Nashville Predators or the pre-Dave Nonis Maple Leafs. Because assets are just that: They're expendable, in the right deal.

If somebody said the Flyers were offered Steven Stamkos and Eric Brewer for Claude Giroux, Tye McGinn and a third-round pick, I'd look at it like I do any other transaction: Are the assets roughly the same, and if so, are my positional needs met?

If those answers are both yes, then you do it. And you wish the assets that departed well, and then focus on your team.
- AllInForFlyers

Very well thought out post. I agree with you. The fact the Flyers have the resources to do whatever they wanted pre-cap, and everything within the rules in the cap era, (monetary wise), only accentuates the claims of a lot of people regarding mismanagement, lack of patience... etc...
How does a team that has a financial advantage over minimal 3/4 of the NHL go close to 4 decades without winning a Championship?

The fact two years removed from a goaltending carousel that has lasted 25 years, a goaltender was signed to a huge deal is on the verge of being bought out, while a young goaltender that was here was basically given away and becomes a Vezina Finalist makes this franchise look like collective fools.

Very well thought out post. I agree with you. The fact the Flyers have the resources to do whatever they want pre-cap, and everything within the rules in the cap era, (monetary wise), only accentuates the claims of a lot of people regarding mismanagement, lack of patience... etc...
How does a team that has a financial advantage over minimal 3/4 of the NHL go close to 4 decades without winning a Championship?

The fact two years removed from a goaltending carousel that has lasted 25 years, a goaltender was signed to a huge deal is on the verge of being bought out, while a young goaltender that was here was basically given away and becomes a Vezina Finalist makes this franchise look like collective fools.
- PLindbergh31

It doesn't make them look like fools. Saying it does is a foolish statement. It makes them look like every other Orgaanization and GM, that has made mistakes. No team or GM get's every move right. And if spending money was the key to winning, the NY Yankees would win the World Series every year.
And they don't have the resources to do whatever they want. There are factors beyond their control. It's not carte blanche.

It doesn't make them look like fools. Saying it does is a foolish statement. It makes them look like every other Orgaanization and GM, that has made mistakes. No team or GM get's every move right. And if spending money was the key to winning, the NY Yankees would win the World Series every year.
And they don't have the resources to do whatever they want. There are factors beyond their control. It's not carte blanche.
- MJL

You are right. The Bryzgalov signing makes them look like sheer geniuses.

- Flyskippy

You are right. The Bryzgalov signing makes them look like sheer geniuses.
- PLindbergh31

would it make them look less foolish if they decided to hang onto Bryz in light of cap recapture, the decreased cap, his behavior, and his mediocre goaltending?

It was hard keeping an eye on the team then as I was at my busiest in school. Were there internet boards akin to those today back then, maybe I could have at least kept a finger on the (lack of) pulse of the team.

EDIT: I am posting to myself -- Sweet!
- Flyskippy

Sorry had to catch up on my mastur...uh bill paying.

In the past ten years, the Flyers have won more playoff rounds than anyone not named the Detroit Red Wings.

Sure they make mistakes. So does every team. Sitting around crying about it makes you sound like a whiny jackass.

You are right. The Bryzgalov signing makes them look like sheer geniuses.
- PLindbergh31

They went out and signed a proven Goalie who played at a high level and was a past finalist for the Vezina Trophy. Real easy to sit back, judge after the fact, and post pictures of Kool Aid then to actually make the decision. You don't risk anything there do you? But why look at anything objectively when you can just complain all the time, about the failures that are an inevitable part of the process. And that happens with every team.

And if Bryzgalov is brought out, there's a lot of people ahead of Holmgren that I'm going to blame first.

They went out and signed a proven Goalie who played at a high level and was a past finalist for the Vezina Trophy. Real easy to sit back, judge after the fact, and post pictures of Kool Aid then to actually make the decision. You don't risk anything there do you? But why look at anything objectively when you can just complain all the time, about the failures that are an inevitable part of the process. And that happens with every team.

And if Bryzgalov is brought out, there's a lot of people ahead of Holmgren that I'm going to blame first.
- MJL

Fine. I'm not placing blame on any one person. I said collective. Which includes everyone, Coach, GM, Owner.

Who is the best goaltender the Flyers have had over the last 20 years?

In the past ten years, the Flyers have won more playoff rounds than anyone not named the Detroit Red Wings.

Sure they make mistakes. So does every team. Sitting around crying about it makes you sound like a whiny jackass.
- Jsaquella

And hardly anyone remembers that there was a stretch of time (22 years or so) in which the Detroit Red Wings (known not so affectionately as the Dead Things) made the playoffs like.. 3 times?

But there's certain people on this board (not named Jsaquella) who want to cry and whine and pretend that its easy to win a Cup. Just ask Vancouver and St Louis... how many Cups do they have again? I can't for the life of me, remember.

In the past ten years, the Flyers have won more playoff rounds than anyone not named the Detroit Red Wings.

Sure they make mistakes. So does every team. Sitting around crying about it makes you sound like a whiny jackass.
- Jsaquella

that is a very impressive stat. i did not know that.

the stanley cup playoffs are the hardest thing in sports to win. the best team on paper isnt guaranteed a thing.

Very well thought out post. I agree with you. The fact the Flyers have the resources to do whatever they wanted pre-cap, and everything within the rules in the cap era, (monetary wise), only accentuates the claims of a lot of people regarding mismanagement, lack of patience... etc...
How does a team that has a financial advantage over minimal 3/4 of the NHL go close to 4 decades without winning a Championship?

The fact two years removed from a goaltending carousel that has lasted 25 years, a goaltender was signed to a huge deal is on the verge of being bought out, while a young goaltender that was here was basically given away and becomes a Vezina Finalist makes this franchise look like collective fools.
- PLindbergh31

In many ways, though, the goaltending debacle this franchise has endured has been a microcosm of every aspect of professional sports, including bad luck.

For example, the Flyers have drafted goalies, including in the first round -- Brian Boucher, for one. They've traded for goalies, which is how they acquired Sean Burke and Robert Esche, etc. They've tried free agency, with John Vanbriesbouck and Ilya Bryzgalov. They've tried Europe, with Roman Cechmanek and Sergei Bobrovsky.

In my mind, the Flyers have been as unlucky as any pro sports franchise in the modern era to not win a Stanley Cup. I would argue that the 1995 Flyers, with the Legion of Doom at the peak of their powers, should not have lost to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference finals...except the goaltending wasn't good enough.

So they address the goaltending, they thought, by bringing back Ron Hextall. Between he and Garth Snow, the Flyers were in the Cup finals just two short years later...only to get swept, where the goaltending still wasn't quite right.

So the Flyers do what they should've done: Looked to free agency. Where in 1998-99, they had a choice: Curtis Joseph or John Vanbiesbrouck? It was a coin flip -- Joseph was younger, Vanbiesbrouck had taken the Florida Panthers to the finals just two-plus seasons earlier.

Didn't work.

So rookie Brian Boucher is in the net for the 2000 playoffs. And we're up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals on the Devils, and that was when the Eric Lindros debacle was in full effect...and the Flyers lose.

Painful. But at least the rookie Boucher was the answer, right?

Nope. He talked himself out of town in the revolt against Bill Barber, getting himself traded to Phoenix.

In 2004, the Flyers are in the Eastern Conference finals again, with Robert Esche in net, Keith Primeau as captain, Jeremy Roenick as the No. 1 center. That was the best team the Flyers have had, I feel, in the modern era. That team should've absolutely won the cup that year.

Instead, in the hook-and-hold era, the Lightning get two goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and literally hold the Flyers for the last 30 minutes in order to get to the Cup finals.

OMG. Painful. I'm about ready to cry now. I won't continue.

My point: They've tried everything possible to fix the goaltending. They haven't found a guy who can just do what they ask: Keep your mouth shut and stop the puck. The guys who kept their mouths shut, like Vanbiesbrouck and Esche, couldn't stop it. The guys who maybe could, like Boucher and Roman Cechmanek and Bryzgalov, couldn't stop talking.

It's frustrating, and from the outside, it does make us look bad. But Lord knows, they've tried to get guys in here. Jeff Hackett. Sean Burke. Ray Emery.

They have tried EVERYTHING.

And hardly anyone remembers that there was a stretch of time (22 years or so) in which the Detroit Red Wings (known not so affectionately as the Dead Things) made the playoffs like.. 3 times?

But there's certain people on this board (not named Jsaquella) who want to cry and whine and pretend that its easy to win a Cup. Just ask Vancouver and St Louis... how many Cups do they have again? I can't for the life of me, remember.
- Doc_Sarcasm

I enjoying whining and crying. I call it pay day

that is a very impressive stat. i did not know that.

the stanley cup playoffs are the hardest thing in sports to win. the best team on paper isnt guaranteed a thing.
- stayinthefnnet

I have to toss an asterisk in, because the source for that was from January, and obviously failed to include this year's playoffs.

But at the time, Detroit had won 12 rounds, and the Flyers and Sharks had 10 each.

Life is... waiting. Baby is due this Sunday (Father's Day!) but is deemed to be big. Like Byfuglien big, except more disciplined. So, unless my wife goes into labor before Monday, we go to her doctor's then and schedule a C-section. Just glad baby was not born yet to skip all the birthdays of people who would go, "S/he has the same birthday as me!!!"
- Flyskippy

you guys don't know boy or girl? awesome

In many ways, though, the goaltending debacle this franchise has endured has been a microcosm of every aspect of professional sports, including bad luck.

For example, the Flyers have drafted goalies, including in the first round -- Brian Boucher, for one. They've traded for goalies, which is how they acquired Sean Burke and Robert Esche, etc. They've tried free agency, with John Vanbriesbouck and Ilya Bryzgalov. They've tried Europe, with Roman Cechmanek and Sergei Bobrovsky.

In my mind, the Flyers have been as unlucky as any pro sports franchise in the modern era to not win a Stanley Cup. I would argue that the 1995 Flyers, with the Legion of Doom at the peak of their powers, should not have lost to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference finals...except the goaltending wasn't good enough.

So they address the goaltending, they thought, by bringing back Ron Hextall. Between he and Garth Snow, the Flyers were in the Cup finals just two short years later...only to get swept, where the goaltending still wasn't quite right.

So the Flyers do what they should've done: Looked to free agency. Where in 1998-99, they had a choice: Curtis Joseph or John Vanbiesbrouck? It was a coin flip -- Joseph was younger, Vanbiesbrouck had taken the Florida Panthers to the finals just two-plus seasons earlier.

Didn't work.

So rookie Brian Boucher is in the net for the 2000 playoffs. And we're up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals on the Devils, and that was when the Eric Lindros debacle was in full effect...and the Flyers lose.

Painful. But at least the rookie Boucher was the answer, right?

Nope. He talked himself out of town in the revolt against Bill Barber, getting himself traded to Phoenix.

In 2004, the Flyers are in the Eastern Conference finals again, with Robert Esche in net, Keith Primeau as captain, Jeremy Roenick as the No. 1 center. That was the best team the Flyers have had, I feel, in the modern era. That team should've absolutely won the cup that year.

Instead, in the hook-and-hold era, the Lightning get two goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and literally hold the Flyers for the last 30 minutes in order to get to the Cup finals.

OMG. Painful. I'm about ready to cry now. I won't continue.

My point: They've tried everything possible to fix the goaltending. They haven't found a guy who can just do what they ask: Keep your mouth shut and stop the puck. The guys who kept their mouths shut, like Vanbiesbrouck and Esche, couldn't stop it. The guys who maybe could, like Boucher and Roman Cechmanek and Bryzgalov, couldn't stop talking.

It's frustrating, and from the outside, it does make us look bad. But Lord knows, they've tried to get guys in here. Jeff Hackett. Sean Burke. Ray Emery.

They have tried EVERYTHING.
- AllInForFlyers

Again, I agree with majority of what you say. There is no question some bad luck involved. But there is also a great deal of mismanagement, giving up on players early, poor signings, and very questionable drafting. Every franchise makes mistakes, it's the frequency you make them that is the key.

Here's why asset management, as you're defining it here, is overrated:

Let's look at two teams: the Nashville Predators and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

By any metric, the Predators are a very successful NHL franchise, particularly when you consider that they are a small-market team. Very rarely has anyone considered them wasteful in the area of asset management.

Yet, at the same time, this fact cannot be ignored, as well: The Predators have NEVER, as in NEVER, advanced past the second round of the playoffs.

So how does that happen?

The Predators in previous seasons, including last year, have iced as many as five homegrown defensemen, including the likes of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. They've had a Vezina finalist in Pekka Rinne. They've had continuity in coaching and senior management...yet still, no real playoff success, and certainly not sustained playoff success.

Why? Because at some point, you have more assets than you need, and you need to cash those in. It's great, conceivably, to draft in the first round every single season. But if you're Nashville, and you've needed two top 6 forwards, including a center, for the last five years, is it truly better to continue accumulating assets -- none of whom are guaranteed to make it into the NHL -- simply because your philosophy is to not "waste" them?

Toronto was in the same position, but in a different fashion. If you believe what you read, Brian Burke was dismissed in part because he refused to use the full financial might of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment in order to improve the Maple Leafs. No back-diving contracts. No expending picks for exclusive negotiating rights. No trades at the trade deadline.

Now again, that's all fine and dandy...until you miss the playoffs, as a franchise, for 8 consecutive seasons.

My point is this: Even if they hit on every pick, the Flyers can't keep every single player they draft. They will not all develop at the same pace. Some will get hurt. Some will require financial compensation that the franchise isn't comfortable with. Some will choose to play elsewhere when they have the opportunity to leave.

The best asset management is this: Don't fall in love with draft picks you haven't made. Don't hold on to draft picks you did make for too long. Spend money when you have to. Swallow hard if you're close enough to smell the Cup, a la acquiring Chris Pronger, or pay through the nose if you truly think you can land a generational player, like Eric Lindros or Shea Weber.

Being the Philadelphia Flyers is better than being a fan of the Nashville Predators or the pre-Dave Nonis Maple Leafs. Because assets are just that: They're expendable, in the right deal.

If somebody said the Flyers were offered Steven Stamkos and Eric Brewer for Claude Giroux, Tye McGinn and a third-round pick, I'd look at it like I do any other transaction: Are the assets roughly the same, and if so, are my positional needs met?

If those answers are both yes, then you do it. And you wish the assets that departed well, and then focus on your team.
- AllInForFlyers

here's the rub. NSH has been a low budget team for yrs until recently and has never been adept at drafting top 6 forwards until radulov and we all know that story. one would think that they could have parlayed their success at drafting d into tradeable assets for forwards, but they were broke and couldn't pay kimmo and were too good to move suter. in both cases they received little or nothing for players that were all star caliber. the variables outside of the owner haven't changed there, so poile and to some extent trotz should be held into account. hard to make a comparison to the flyers because they've had the governor on for much of their existence.

re TOR, they were the total opposite after JFJ, when burke came in. they had thrown assets all over the place and boxed themselves into cap hell. now that he's gone, you can't say that burke did such a bad job, however. the one impetuous move he made was for kessel, but he had a building to fill and it's understandable that he would want to kickstart the process. they were a plyoff team finally and they're in a position to go places because of enuf patience w/ some plyrs and some sharp deals.

GMs have a certain hierarchy of positions that are weighted accordingly, limited dollars to spend whether it's self or cap imposed. draft picks, prospects, roster players and cap space itself are ALL assets. some however, bring more value than others when you are trying to build a Cup winner. puck moving dmen are the most difficult players to acquire and also bring the most back in trade. the EJ and Gogo trades alone illustrate that. the longer a team is unable to secure these plyrs, the more pressure there is on the GM to find alternatives and the less slack he has to deal with as he gives up limited assets to address overall team needs...younger plyrs past the ELCs, vets that need to be resigned, FAs to pursue, etc. the fact that the flyers have failed in goal even more than they have on d has put tremendous pressure to bear on the teams forward scouting, which thankfully has come thru as a source of relief.

the point is this- if you had a strength in this league as an org, i submit that the 3 positions that are most important are goalie (top 10), top pair puck mover and #1 center. if you are solid in those 3 key areas, you have a distinct advantage over other teams. the rest of the assets you need will be less costly and if you draft and develop enuf of the big 3, you will have had time to benefit from the ELC period that opened up other opps to acquire plyrs. this is an extremely difficult feat, but if the goal is the Cup and not just to be a contender, i think it's the best formula. most cup winners had 2 out of 3 at least. it is on this basis that i state my case.

ok, i'm tired now...

In many ways, though, the goaltending debacle this franchise has endured has been a microcosm of every aspect of professional sports, including bad luck.

For example, the Flyers have drafted goalies, including in the first round -- Brian Boucher, for one. They've traded for goalies, which is how they acquired Sean Burke and Robert Esche, etc. They've tried free agency, with John Vanbriesbouck and Ilya Bryzgalov. They've tried Europe, with Roman Cechmanek and Sergei Bobrovsky.

In my mind, the Flyers have been as unlucky as any pro sports franchise in the modern era to not win a Stanley Cup. I would argue that the 1995 Flyers, with the Legion of Doom at the peak of their powers, should not have lost to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference finals...except the goaltending wasn't good enough.

So they address the goaltending, they thought, by bringing back Ron Hextall. Between he and Garth Snow, the Flyers were in the Cup finals just two short years later...only to get swept, where the goaltending still wasn't quite right.

So the Flyers do what they should've done: Looked to free agency. Where in 1998-99, they had a choice: Curtis Joseph or John Vanbiesbrouck? It was a coin flip -- Joseph was younger, Vanbiesbrouck had taken the Florida Panthers to the finals just two-plus seasons earlier.

Didn't work.

So rookie Brian Boucher is in the net for the 2000 playoffs. And we're up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals on the Devils, and that was when the Eric Lindros debacle was in full effect...and the Flyers lose.

Painful. But at least the rookie Boucher was the answer, right?

Nope. He talked himself out of town in the revolt against Bill Barber, getting himself traded to Phoenix.

In 2004, the Flyers are in the Eastern Conference finals again, with Robert Esche in net, Keith Primeau as captain, Jeremy Roenick as the No. 1 center. That was the best team the Flyers have had, I feel, in the modern era. That team should've absolutely won the cup that year.

Instead, in the hook-and-hold era, the Lightning get two goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and literally hold the Flyers for the last 30 minutes in order to get to the Cup finals.

OMG. Painful. I'm about ready to cry now. I won't continue.

My point: They've tried everything possible to fix the goaltending. They haven't found a guy who can just do what they ask: Keep your mouth shut and stop the puck. The guys who kept their mouths shut, like Vanbiesbrouck and Esche, couldn't stop it. The guys who maybe could, like Boucher and Roman Cechmanek and Bryzgalov, couldn't stop talking.

It's frustrating, and from the outside, it does make us look bad. But Lord knows, they've tried to get guys in here. Jeff Hackett. Sean Burke. Ray Emery.

They have tried EVERYTHING.
- AllInForFlyers

anybody can try, but don't you think a guy like holland or schiarelli would have succeeded?

Fine. I'm not placing blame on any one person. I said collective. Which includes everyone, Coach, GM, Owner.

Who is the best goaltender the Flyers have had over the last 20 years?
- PLindbergh31

I disagree that they look like fools. Collectively or otherwise. Who cares who was the best Goalie in the last 20 years. My focus is on the team moving forward. In which I'm going to be both objective and optimistic in looking at. Versus being nonobjective, and completely pessimistic with every comment.

I have to toss an asterisk in, because the source for that was from January, and obviously failed to include this year's playoffs.

But at the time, Detroit had won 12 rounds, and the Flyers and Sharks had 10 each.
- Jsaquella

true. but still, all things considered, thats still impressive. this isnt the nba where you can put stars together and win ( i think the pens unfortunately showed that this year). in the playoffs, its more about hot streaks for teams, especially goalies, and just plain old breaks and luck.

honestly, a large percentage of what you can ask for as a fan is just continued success and a chance. i realize it sucks being a fan of san jose, and just continuously not seeing your team get over the hump, but still, there is something to be said for continuously being an elite team and making it to the playoffs.

Again, I agree with majority of what you say. There is no question some bad luck involved. But there is also a great deal of mismanagement, giving up on players early, poor signings, and very questionable drafting. Every franchise makes mistakes, it's the frequency you make them that is the key.
- PLindbergh31

So quantify that the Flyers make those mistakes with more frequency then other teams.

I disagree that the look like fools. Collectively or otherwise. Who cares who was the best Goalie in the last 20 years. My focus is on the team moving forward. In which I'm going to be both objective and optimistic in looking at. Versus being nonobjective, and completely pessimistic with every comment.
- MJL

they have definitely made some mistakes as an organization, but who can say their team hasnt? despite not liking them, ive consistently been exposed to the flyers as a franchise. i can never recall one moment or season, in which the team was not one hundred percent devoted to winning. in an age when most ownership groups are more concerned with making money, you could never accuse snider of that.

yeah sometimes it bites them, as the bryz contract shows, but that was still done in the name of solving what ownership viewed as the biggest obstacle in the way of winning.

as far as organizations go, no, the flyers havent won a cup in ages. but its hard to say they are fools or unsuccessful or whatever. and i definitely cant be accused of wearing the orange glasses or drinking the kool aid, as i am certainly not upset when they do not do well.

here's the rub. NSH has been a low budget team for yrs until recently and has never been adept at drafting top 6 forwards until radulov and we all know that story. one would think that they could have parlayed their success at drafting d into tradeable assets for forwards, but they were broke and couldn't pay kimmo and were too good to move suter. in both cases they received little or nothing for players that were all star caliber. the variables outside of the owner haven't changed there, so poile and to some extent trotz should be held into account. hard to make a comparison to the flyers because they've had the governor on for much of their existence.

re TOR, they were the total opposite after JFJ, when burke came in. they had thrown assets all over the place and boxed themselves into cap hell. now that he's gone, you can't say that burke did such a bad job, however. the one impetuous move he made was for kessel, but he had a building to fill and it's understandable that he would want to kickstart the process. they were a plyoff team finally and they're in a position to go places because of enuf patience w/ some plyrs and some sharp deals.

GMs have a certain hierarchy of positions that are weighted accordingly, limited dollars to spend whether it's self or cap imposed. draft picks, prospects, roster players and cap space itself are ALL assets. some however, bring more value than others when you are trying to build a Cup winner. puck moving dmen are the most difficult players to acquire and also bring the most back in trade. the EJ and Gogo trades alone illustrate that. the longer a team is unable to secure these plyrs, the more pressure there is on the GM to find alternatives and the less slack he has to deal with as he gives up limited assets to address overall team needs...younger plyrs past the ELCs, vets that need to be resigned, FAs to pursue, etc. the fact that the flyers have failed in goal even more than they have on d has put tremendous pressure to bear on the teams forward scouting, which thankfully has come thru as a source of relief.

the point is this- if you had a strength in this league as an org, i submit that the 3 positions that are most important are goalie (top 10), top pair puck mover and #1 center. if you are solid in those 3 key areas, you have a distinct advantage over other teams. the rest of the assets you need will be less costly and if you draft and develop enuf of the big 3, you will have had time to benefit from the ELC period that opened up other opps to acquire plyrs. this is an extremely difficult feat, but if the goal is the Cup and not just to be a contender, i think it's the best formula. most cup winners had 2 out of 3 at least. it is on this basis that i state my case.

ok, i'm tired now...
- isaiah520

The point he made is that keeping your draft picks and using them. Having patience in developing them, does not guarantee anything. And if you have the strengths in those positions, you're undoubtedly going to be using assets to shore up other positions regardless. Look at every top team. They all have done so. They've all either traded top draft picks, or players they've selected with top draft picks, to tweak and add to the roster. It is unavoidable.