Brayden Point.
- LAHawk

Sebastian Aho. Brett Pesce. Jacob Slavin. Carolina Hurricanes.

Sebastian Aho. Brett Pesce. Jacob Slavin. Carolina Hurricanes.
- mohel

Johnny Goudreau, onedj Palat

MackenzievWeegar was a seventh round pick.

Sebastian Aho. Brett Pesce. Jacob Slavin. Carolina Hurricanes.
- mohel

Jamie Benn. Jason Rober. Joe Pavelski. Roope Hintz. Dallas Stars.

Johnny Goudreau, onedj Palat

MackenzievWeegar was a seventh round pick.
- LAHawk

Matthias Ekholm, Anders Lee, Roman Josi.

You make a valid point that there is always a Chris Kontos type guy who scors 9 goals in the regular season and 14 in the playoffs.

These aren't all star teams so yes bottom guys play huge rolls. Bowman rolled over 12 guys twice and won 3 Cups. Go look at team Canada's roster when NHL guys go to the Olympics or played in the World Cup gimmick. First Rounders on all 4 lines.

Everybody in the NHL and AHL is in great shape, trys hard, eats right and is coachable but the difference between the Crosbys and Krugers is talent. Scouts see it from 14 years old and the talented guys get drafted in the top 15.

A guy or two slips through the crack but not a lot.
- stevefrmglencoe

Yeah I see your point that teams generally have high 1sts that lead them to championships, St. Louis was the only recent team with only a 4 in Pieterangelo, but picks outside of the first round contribute much to championships. Bolland, Bickell, Brouwer, Keith, Hammer, Shaw and Saad were all picked outside the first round and the Cups wouldn't have been won without them . In addition to the players LA and Mo mentioned, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Federov, Kozlov, Konstantinov and Datsyuk and almost many key players on the Wings were all drafted outside of the first.

You keep missing the point. The bottom six and bottom pair are guys that can be picked up as free agents or trades. Show me a Stanley Cup Champion that was not lead by multiple high first rounders. And first rounders from the orgainzation that wins.
- stevefrmglencoe

You are right in saying that you need "needle movers". You are also right in saying that the first round is where a majority of these type of players come from. You are wrong in virtually discounting the rest of the draft to acquire not only needle movers but the just-as-important depth required to win a cup.

Yes, you need big timers to win the cup, but having a complete team that can roll four lines and three pairs is an absolute must (save for rare instances). Otherwise, you get Edmonton. Goaltending is not the only problem there.

Use all of this year’s capital as you can this year, these players are going to take years.

The hawks can draft too many players?? LOL look at the roster. It’s great that some are assuming all our picks are going to hit, I hope they do..
But the reality is that we need all these picks to get SOME real NHL players.

And the quick dismissal of those questioning Bedard’s response to the Hawks holding the top pick… No one in the public has heard from Connor on his feelings of the lottery results. So I ask, don’t jinx things by dismissing the idea completely.

Kris Letang, 3rd round.

Duncan Keith. Nikita Kucherov. Keeping digging.
- mohel

Toews, Seabrook and Kane. Malkin, Crosby and Fluery. Stamkos and Hedmann.

Please show me a Cup winner that wasn't lead by lots of high first rounders.

Toews, Seabrook and Kane. Malkin, Crosby and Fluery. Stamkos and Hedmann.

Please show me a Cup winner that wasn't lead by lots of high first rounders.
- stevefrmglencoe

Show us a cup winner that wasn't led by both high first rounders and picks from the rest of the draft, which is even more important now since the cap is such a notable hindrance to putting and keeping a team together.

Toews, Seabrook and Kane. Malkin, Crosby and Fluery. Stamkos and Hedmann.

Please show me a Cup winner that wasn't lead by lots of high first rounders.
- stevefrmglencoe

Almost every one of the recent Red Wing cups.

You are right in saying that you need "needle movers". You are also right in saying that the first round is where a majority of these type of players come from. You are wrong in virtually discounting the rest of the draft to acquire not only needle movers but the just-as-important depth required to win a cup.

Yes, you need big timers to win the cup, but having a complete team that can roll four lines and three pairs is an absolute must (save for rare instances). Otherwise, you get Edmonton. Goaltending is not the only problem there.
- Chunk

50% of first round picks play 300 games. Less than 20% of 2nd rounders and 7% of the players picked after the first round. Drafting high is the most important thing a team can do. Trading is 2nd. Free Agents are important. Very few players are developed in the minors and come up and produce. Great goaltending ends up trumping a lot of it. Coaching can push teams over the top. When you go back year after year and look at the playoff stats the one thing that really stands out above special teams is penalties. There are outliers but usually the least penalized teams go the farthest. It has a lot to do with always having the puck but lots to do with coaching and discipline.

agreed on Kane being best born and arguably best Blackhawk. Disagree on him chasing a cup. If he does it's likely in the eastern conference and on a team on the rise....New Jersey? islanders? Lots of dynamics there....his live in girlfriend who is from here, his son, his dad.....see where it fits in early July.

I am in the small minority but I truly believe if Kane and his camp wanted to come back, and wanted a 2-3 year deal to retire as a Hawk.....i don't see the Hawks saying "no". Just my opinion and others disagree with me which is fine. Doubtful we ever find out.

I thought Richardson did a great job. Zero qualms about his style and this team was dog $hit on paper, worse on the ice, they never quit on him, and were competitive a lot more so than anyone could have guessed back in October. Is he a guy who can be with them when they are ready to take the next step? no idea....but if you want to talk about an AHL coach, look at Jeremy Colliton. Even then, I don't think he's even an AHL coach or even a college or highschool coach. He's absolutely horrific and the fact Stan Bowman thought that clown could coach in the show is a huge blemish on whatever legacy he has.

My main concern with Bedard is not Bedard himself or the coaches. It's who is this kid going to skate with and is this kid going to be OK learning to be a pro with a turd like Connor Murphy spewing cliche after cliche at him while running into people and harming himself? OR even Seth Jones who has quit on 1 organization already and was quickly moved out of Nashville? I mean who the hell is going to be there who can help mold Bedard as a voice from a player who demands respect? That to me is a hole Davidson is going to quickly need to fill.
- SteveRain

Willingness to overpay either in salary/term for a free agent or in a trade pretty much assures a GM he can get himself a mentor or team captain short term.

The Leafs won't be able to match what Ryan O'Reilly likely can get on the open market. U like him? What about Logan Couture - he's probably available as SJ is rebuilding. Or J T Miller who the Canucks probably regret the contract they handed out to him.

I think you will be very surprised who's available this summer from teams looking to offload salary, get younger or have decided their roster isn't good enough to win and want to dump some veterans.

It won't ever happen but I'd take Anzi Kopitar's $10M contract for 1 year to help with Bedard's initiation. But why would he be interested.

Toews, Seabrook and Kane. Malkin, Crosby and Fluery. Stamkos and Hedmann.

Please show me a Cup winner that wasn't lead by lots of high first rounders.
- stevefrmglencoe

Nobody's arguing that 1st round picks don't become backbone players on Cup contenders. Only you seem to believe that finding backbone players after the 1st round is nearly impossible and not necessary to develop a Cup contender. You're incorrect.

Toews, Seabrook and Kane. Malkin, Crosby and Fluery. Stamkos and Hedmann.

Please show me a Cup winner that wasn't lead by lots of high first rounders.
- stevefrmglencoe

I'd also say that the Lightning players outside of the top 1st round picks- Kucherov, Point, Palat, Killorn and Gourde were just as important as Stamkos and Hedman in the winning the recent Cups. Stamkos only had 1 point in the 19-00 Cup playoff due to injury.

Show us a cup winner that wasn't led by both high first rounders and picks from the rest of the draft, which is even more important now since the cap is such a notable hindrance to putting and keeping a team together.
- Chunk

Wasn’t Fleury benched for the last 2 cups Pittsburgh won? Wasn’t it third round pick Matt Murray that picked up the pieces?

Almost every one of the recent Red Wing cups.
- Popsghostly

Great example.

Few teams drafted Hall of Famers in late rounds like them and the trades were amazing.

Different Cap era and it has been 15 years

Wasn’t Fleury benched for the last 2 cups Pittsburgh won? Wasn’t it third round pick Matt Murray that picked up the pieces?
- LAHawk

Good point.

Fluery did help them get into the playoffs with home ice along the way.

Regardless they don't do anything without Crosby and Malkin.

Crosby first overall like Kane, Stamkos, Bedard.

I'd also say that the Lightning players outside of the top 1st round picks- Kucherov, Point, Palat, Killorn and Gourde were just as important as Stamkos and Hedman in the winning the recent Cups. Stamkos only had 1 point in the 19-00 Cup playoff due to injury.
- Popsghostly

Great team for sure. Hit on late picks. Good trades. Remember the year they had the NHL record for regular season and lost to Columbus? Hedmann was hurt and they folded.

50% of first round picks play 300 games. Less than 20% of 2nd rounders and 7% of the players picked after the first round. Drafting high is the most important thing a team can do. Trading is 2nd. Free Agents are important. Very few players are developed in the minors and come up and produce. Great goaltending ends up trumping a lot of it. Coaching can push teams over the top. When you go back year after year and look at the playoff stats the one thing that really stands out above special teams is penalties. There are outliers but usually the least penalized teams go the farthest. It has a lot to do with always having the puck but lots to do with coaching and discipline.
- stevefrmglencoe

FFS, has anyone here said you DON'T need your high draft picks to pan out? Anyone? No. I've simply said that you need FAR more than that to put together a cup contender. In fact, you NEED the non-1st rounders to pan out (ideally early in their careers so that they are cost controlled).

2011 and 2012 you still had all of the high draft picks on this team. Kane, Toews, Seabrook, Hossa (yes I know he wasn't drafted by the Hawks). And they bowed out in the first round both years. Why? Because their depth was not good enough. Same core, same coach, same system, different depth.

Nobody's arguing that 1st round picks don't become backbone players on Cup contenders. Only you seem to believe that finding backbone players after the 1st round is nearly impossible and not necessary to develop a Cup contender. You're incorrect.
- mohel

It is statistically very difficult to do. I've known Wiz since the 90s and read everything he writes. Lots of trees have died over players that sound amazing pre draft but never end up doing a thing.

I was at Bensenville in the 90s at a Hawks developemt camp and asked Bill Wirtz why the Hawks didn't draft well and he told me, "Drafting is like horse racing. It is hard to pick winners."

FFS, has anyone here said you DON'T need your high draft picks to pan out? Anyone? No. I've simply said that you need FAR more than that to put together a cup contender. In fact, you NEED the non-1st rounders to pan out (ideally early in their careers so that they are cost controlled).

2011 and 2012 you still had all of the high draft picks on this team. Kane, Toews, Seabrook, Hossa (yes I know he wasn't drafted by the Hawks). And they bowed out in the first round both years. Why? Because their depth was not good enough. Same core, same coach, same system, different depth.
- Chunk

Well put.

50% of first round picks play 300 games. Less than 20% of 2nd rounders and 7% of the players picked after the first round. Drafting high is the most important thing a team can do. Trading is 2nd. Free Agents are important. Very few players are developed in the minors and come up and produce. Great goaltending ends up trumping a lot of it. Coaching can push teams over the top. When you go back year after year and look at the playoff stats the one thing that really stands out above special teams is penalties. There are outliers but usually the least penalized teams go the farthest. It has a lot to do with always having the puck but lots to do with coaching and discipline.
- stevefrmglencoe

I'm in the same boat as I'd like as many first rounders as possible, and in a heartbeat I'd package a 2nd to move up.

The numbers above show that 1sts are more valuable than 2nds. But in a literal lottery, is 1 first better than three 2nds? Of course, if we look at picks 1-10, that number 50% get to 300 games. But how much does that skew picks 11-32, especially at the bottom where players like Beaudin, Quenneville, etc. are drafted? Are those lower firsts (15-32) exponentially better than higher seconds? This is where we need LBR.

Were you impressed with his coaching? If you could snap your fingers right now and replace him with Laviolette would you?
- stevefrmglencoe

Yes. He took a team that was worse than the one previously and had them playing regularly as a unit and playing hard for each other. At a bare minimum he is a great motivator. Scotty Bowman (and certainly Laviolette) could not have done much better with this collection of players.

I hope Ricardson ends up only 5 games below .500 with an unusual playoff win over McDavid and the Oilers in the next 4 seasons.

Not sure we need a superstar being coached by a guy learning his way around.
- stevefrmglencoe

I could not disagree with you more about Richardson. What he did with mostly an AHL roster while doing a fine job developing rookies, Dmen to boot, having his group prepared, hungry and competitive is truly amazing to me.

But I'll concede this, it's one thing to get a rag tag group to play hungry it's quite another to get a group of legit NHL talent to buy in and execute and match NHL coaches in game is another.

As good as 95% of the people, you're in a tiny minority, think LR was this yr there are still questions as the rebuild turns into it's time to win. I'm one who thinks LR is the right guy but until he proves he can win with legit NHL talent we just don't know.

I'm in the same boat as I'd like as many first rounders as possible, and in a heartbeat I'd package a 2nd to move up.

The numbers above show that 1sts are more valuable than 2nds. But in a literal lottery, is 1 first better than three 2nds? Of course, if we look at picks 1-10, that number 50% get to 300 games. But how much does that skew picks 11-32, especially at the bottom where players like Beaudin, Quenneville, etc. are drafted? Are those lower firsts (15-32) exponentially better than higher seconds? This is where we need LBR.
- Popsghostly

If you go back and look draft after draft it is in the top 15 with some notable exceptioins later in the first. Of course the guys drafted high get the most chances from teams and the guys drafted later in the first round go to better teams and have a tougher road to get to the NHL.