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Congratulations to the 2008 Draft class

Time flies

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Sure, that's impressive, but how many draft classes can say that the 1st guy taken and the last guy taken have both won a cup?
 
Surprised how rare it is. 2006 just needs Erik Johnson to win.

Is it all that surprising though?

First, the top 5 all have to make the NHL and have sustained success to maximize the odds. They can't have short careers due to simply not being good enough or injury.

Secondly, there have only been 13 different cities that have won in the last 20 years. And that's a lot of franchises without Stanley Cup wins. Yes, players can move around (re: Hossa) but a lot of the top draft picks I would expect to be retained where possible.

Thirdly, not every franchise necessarily picks in the top 5. If you're a perennial loser, you're taking up one of those spots every year without a chance at victory.
 
Is it all that surprising though?

First, the top 5 all have to make the NHL and have sustained success to maximize the odds. They can't have short careers due to simply not being good enough or injury.

Secondly, there have only been 13 different cities that have won in the last 20 years. And that's a lot of franchises without Stanley Cup wins. Yes, players can move around (re: Hossa) but a lot of the top draft picks I would expect to be retained where possible.

Thirdly, not every franchise necessarily picks in the top 5. If you're a perennial loser, you're taking up one of those spots every year without a chance at victory.

It was surprising enough for me to look up several other draft classes. Whatever that's worth. I agree that the idea of a top-5 pick is often more alluring than the result.
 
Karlsson and Myers coming soon?

2008 was the last couple years, 2009 starting with Hedman. Tavares and Kane and Duchene and OEL and Kadri next?
 
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I wonder which year you have to count the farthest in a draft to find a cup winner? None of the top-5 picks in 1999 won a cup. Not sure how common this is, but it was the first year I checked.

In fact, for 1999 I had to count up to the 21st pick to find Nick Boynton, who eventually got his name on the Cup with the '10 Blackhawks. Ouch.

It looks like the next guy in that draft to win a Cup is Mike Commodore at 42 (very quick eye scan tbf). So two Cups total in the first 42 picks of the draft.
 
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I wonder which year you have to count the farthest in a draft to find a cup winner? None of the top-5 picks in 1999 won a cup. Not sure how common this is, but it was the first year I checked.

In fact, for 1999 I had to count up to the 21st pick to find Nick Boynton, who eventually got his name on the Cup with the '10 Blackhawks. Ouch.

It looks like the next guy in that draft to win a Cup is Mike Commodore at 42 (very quick eye scan tbf). So two Cups total in the first 42 picks of the draft.

Since it's a fun exercise, after a quick glance (feel free to correct me, arbitrarily started at 1995):

1995: Chris Kelly (6th overall, spare forward for the 2000 Devils)
1996: Boyd Devereaux (depth forward on 2002 Wings)
1997: Nick Boynton (9th overall, depth D on 2010 Hawks)
1998: Vinny Lecavalier (1st overall, 2004 Lightning)
1999: Nick Boynton again (21st overall)
2000: Marian Gaborik (3rd overall, 2014 Kings)
2001: Patrick Sharp (95th overall, 2010 Hawks)
2002: Jay Bouwmeester (3rd overall, 2019 Blues)
2003: Marc-Andre Fleury (1st overall, 2009 Penguins)
2004: Alex Ovechkin (1st overall, 2018 Capitals)
2005: Sidney Crosby (1st overall, 2009 Penguins)
2006: Jordan Staal (2nd overall, 2009 Penguins)
2007: Patrick Kane (1st overall, 2010 Hawks)
2008: Steven Stamkos (1st overall, 2020 Lightning)
2009: Victor Hedman (2nd overall, 2020 Lightning)
2010: Tyler Seguin (2nd overall, 2011 Bruins)
2011: Brandon Saad (43rd overall, 2013 Hawks)
2012: Tom Wilson (17th overall, 2018 Capitals)
2013: Andre Burakovsky (23rd overall, 2018 Capitals)
2014: Jakub Vrana (13th overall, 2018 Capitals)
2015: Mitchell Stephens (33rd overall, 2020 Lightning)*, Vince Dunn (51st overall, 2019 Blues)
2016: N/A?
2017: Robert Thomas (20th overall, 2019 Blues)
2018: N/A
2019: N/A
 
Actually, by far the most impressive thing about that fact is that three of those top 5 picks won the Cup together.

I always thought it was neat the #1 and 2 picks from the 1997 draft (Thornton and Marleau) eventually came together in San Jose.

Making the feat look even more impressive is that even if the Canucks won a Cup with the Sedins, one of those other three top 5 picks would have had to found their way onto the team. Talk about needing a perfect storm.
 
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That's cool, interesting close case by 2004. 3 have won, 2 were players traded away at the deadline in years their teams went on to win the cup.

#3 Cam Barker in 2010 by the Hawks then #5 Blake Wheeler by the Bruins in 2011.
 
I mean, Habs could be close to truly contending but Sharks look beyond sketch. But you never know
That assumes that they stay with their current teams and are not traded to a contender. Sharks may decide to cut some money and Kane would be an attractive piece for a contender.
 
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That assumes that they stay with their current teams and are not traded to a contender. Sharks may decide to cut some money and Kane would be an attractive piece for a contender.
Who knows. Hell, Caps might bring in another Trotz-esque coach that's able to refocus that team and Kovy might join the list too :popcorn:
 
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