Teams that strive to be successful take their cues from those who have already achieved success.
The Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks, who both have victories over the Toronto Maple Leafs this month, have combined for five Stanley Cup Championships since 2010 following a similar blueprint.
Both teams are not simply a creation of acquiring superstars at the top of the NHL Draft, but have also relied on superior scouting to find talent in the lower rounds, player development to provide the club with depth and making the correct decisions in trades and free agent signings.
The Kings and Hawks cornerstones (Jonathan Toews-2006, Patrick Kane-2007 and Drew Doughty-2008) were all selected in the top three picks of their respective drafts.
Other important building blocks (Duncan Keith-2002, Corey Crawford-2003, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jonathan Quick-2005, Alec Martinez-2007, Tyler Toffoli-2010, Andrew Shaw-2011) were chosen in the second round or lower, while Jake Muzzin, Trevor van Riemsdyk and presumptive Calder Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin were signed as unsigned or undrafted free agents.
Chicago GM Stan Bowman has done a masterful job of revamping his roster after his three Cup victories by moving players (Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd, Antti Niemi and Dustin Byfuglien in 2010, Dave Bolland in 2013, Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp in 2015) a year before their contracts were up to manage the salary cap. He also hit a home run with the signing of free agent Marian Hossa, who is still a force at age 37.
Kings GM Dean Lombardi was able to find players who did not fit in with other clubs and acquire Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Milan Lucic in trades for far less than full market value.
The Maple Leafs are years away from being where these two contenders are, but they appear to be taking some of the same steps that both did in establishing their core groups.
With their 4-1 loss to Chicago on Friday night, the Leafs have lost their last four games and the growing divide between them and most of the league has them well positioned to add another premium young talent in the 2016 Draft.
Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter appears to have been successful in his first draft, with Mitch Marner, Travis Dermott, Jeremy Bracco, Andrew Nielsen and Dmytro Timashov all having excellent junior seasons, while also adding unsigned or undrafted free agents in Zach Hyman and Nikita Soshnikov, but there is a lot more work to do.
The club will continue their talent acquisition this summer, with 11 draft choices and space on the NHL roster that might sway free agents like KHL defenseman Nikita Zaitsev or Harvard University’s Jimmy Vesey to come to Toronto.
Vesey is a likely candidate for the Hobey Baker Award in his final year at Harvard and has family ties to the Leafs through his father (as a scout) and brother Nolan (a 2014 draft pick).
What is unknown is whether GM Lou Lamoriello can be as successful as Bowman and Lombardi in making the right moves to turn the Leafs around. Trades can help but they have to bring back assets that will thrive in Babcock’s system. Making a multi-million investment in Steven Stamkos only makes sense if the Leafs believe they can be competitive in the next four or five years, while he is still in his prime.
*******
Listen to my appearance on “Off The Post… with Russ Cohen and Anthony Mingioni, where we discuss the John Scott fiasco and other NHL topics.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
Note : Continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.