The NHL Draft is an annual event that takes place towards the end of June, usually within the week leading up to July 1st. Sandwiched between the end of the Stanley Cup finals and the NHL Free Agency Day on July 1st, arguably two of the most climactic points of the season, the draft almost slips by hockey fans. Most know that it consists of seven rounds with 31 sections for each team per round unless these picks have been previously traded. Most also know the headlining, blue-chip prospects such as this year's Jack Hughes, Kappo Kakko and Bowen Byram.
For most hockey fans, it’s then understandable why the level of excitement towards hockey drops leading up to the draft. With only one of Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko, there are only so many prospects available that will make the team, let alone make a difference, to their team next year. With society’s need for instant gratification in any facet, the draft presents itself to be the exact opposite. Most prospects take several years to develop even to earn an entry-level contract. Jake Evans of the Montreal Canadians, a former 7th round selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, played four years at the University of Norte Dame, proceeded to sign his first NHL contract, and spent his entire rookie season in their minor league farm team, the Laval Rocket. It has been 5 years and while there is a considerable amount of hope that he will defy the odds of most 7th round picks and be a contributor in the NHL, it has yet to be seen. Five years is a long time to wait for even the most dedicated fans.
Another detractor of excitement surrounding the draft has to be the NHL Free Agency day that soon follows after the draft concludes. Why wait for the potential of these 18-year old’s effect on the future of your franchise when there are players coming off contracts, set to be an unrestricted free agency that can immediately help your team now? A fair question, one that has two answers.
Firstly, free agency should honestly scare people more than it does. The number of bad contracts handed out to players that don’t deserve them happens more than owners and fans would hope. Contracts such as Karl Alzner's or David Clarkson’s deal serve as yearly reminders that teams, in order to improve their team quickly, overspend and cripple their team in both the short term and long term. With over $700 million USD spent this last July 1st, it’s not a wonder why.
Secondly, winning the Stanley Cup is the goal of every NHL club, and while big named, marquee free agents often offer a plethora of talent to teams that feel as though they are one piece away from the Cup, the reality of the situation is that throughout history most Stanley Cup teams since 1994-1995 have been comprised of a roster mostly drafted by said team. Teams like the Washington Capitals in 2018 and the Saint Louis Blues in 2019 have had a majority of players drafted by them such as Alexander Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom, Jordan Binnington, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Not only are the majority of their core drafted players, but almost exclusively their top talent and leaders are almost always drafted.
In a world where success is expected immediately, drafts prove to be a slow, methodical way of acquiring talent. Historically speaking, several teams have been traditionally better at acquiring talent via the draft than any other. One such team, Detroit, who has drafted the likes of Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidström stands out. Before the massive rebuild they undertook several years ago, Detroit had put together a string of 25 consecutive playoff appearances from 1991 to 2016. What is more impressive is that during this time, the NHL implemented a salary cap in 1995 to restrict high market teams from dominating and had a lockout year in 2004-2005 to implement new rules that allowed for greater parity between teams. Between all this, Detroit maintained its historic record of success in large part to the talent they drafted.
On the flip side of the historical spectrum, Edmonton has been horrible at drafting. Since 2007, Edmonton has had a grand total of 16 first-round picks. Of these first-round picks, Only McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Nurse are still with the club. They traded several away such as Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle for players/prospects/picks they thought would help them. In almost every trade, they have given assets away for pennies on the dollar. The Taylor Hall trade saw Edmonton acquire Adam Larsson from New Jersey for Taylor Hall. Hall has subsequently won the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP in 2018 while Larsson has struggled to stay in a top 4 defensive role.
What's truly more egregious that the giving away of talent on the roster for nothing is the utter mismanagement of talent on the roster. Nail Yakapov and Jesse Puljujärvi were drafted 1st and 4th overall in their respective years. Typically, players chosen that high in the draft are viewed as "can't miss" prospects. In Puljujärvi's draft year, Columbus drew criticism for passing over him at 3rd overall because he was viewed as that great of a prospect. Edmonton took these players, forced them into the NHL at too young of an age, destroyed their confidence to the point where Yakapov was unable to become an NHL player while the jury is still out of Puljujärvi. Edmonton's poor drafting and mismanagement have led to one of the biggest playoff droughts in the NHL, only making the playoffs once since 2007.
Value is needed in order to create success and without successful drafts, teams lose a considerable amount of value. Every team gets the same amount of draft picks every year and what teams do with these drafts picks ends up shaping the face of the franchise. For this reason, the NHL Draft does matter, even if the average fan can't see its full value.
コメント