Pick or Playoffs?

[cgf]

Regardless of position, regardless of where in the first round they're picking, they need to pick actual NHL players with those picks.

I don't want to go too far down a rathole with this, but can you imagine if Colorado chose McEvoy instead of Jost (picked 4 spots after Jost) and Pastrnak instead of Bleackley (picked 2 spots after Bleackley), what the team would look like? Even having blown those other two 1st round picks?

The Avs simply cannot build depth, nor retain high end talent, if they don't stop blowing drafts. Their only other option is to sell off their thin high-end talent to revitalize their prospect pool, which needs revitalization because they keep blowing drafts.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

-AB

There's a difference between picking in the lottery & picking later in the top 40 though. So if you're going to differentiate between picking in various parts of the draft I think you need to split drafting in the lottery from drafting in the rest of the top 40, from drafting in the rest of the top 100, from drafting in the latter rounds. We suck at drafting on the whole, especially after those top picks, and for the most part, I completely agree with your points.

I'm just being a pedant on this specific point because our success rate is comfortably above average with our top picks...even with that Jost error that still makes me lament that Joe didn't just let Henchy make that pick, & us throwing a pick away on Dunk the Lunk...so I don't think we need to worry about wasting that Ottawa pick, despite my being nowhere near as confident in our drafting anywhere else in draft

 

[AvsFan29]

I'm just being a pedant

Let's bring our vocabulary into the 22nd century! Lol

 

[cgf]

A top 10 pick is much better than a 14-16, and infinitely better than a pick in the 20s, on average.

Pretty sure anything past 22 is no more likely to play in the NHL than a 5th rounder.

But the picks don't just come out of thin air. Collapsing, yet again, to finish the season is much much much worse than the core fighting until the final day only to fall short. So you can't simply say top 10 pick > 14-16 pick without accounting for how much better competing all season long is to falling back to shit yet again because the boys simply are not good enough or quit.

That's why the question should be: top 10 pick + this pivotal season turning to shit vs pick 14-16 + this pivotal season ending up a letdown, but the core not quitting & staying in the race until the very last moment. And with that equation, the latter seems much more valuable to us than the former.

If we were early in a rebuild then I'd feel differently, but unless you want my jokes about Rebuild 3.0 to turn into a reality, we can't treat this season as though we're just beginning a rebuild.

Let's bring our vocabulary into the 22nd century! Lol

We old-timers will use whatever antiquated lingo we want. Now get off my lawn you damn whipper-snapper!

 

[AvsFan29]

But the picks don't just come out thin air. Collapsing, yet again, to finish the season is much much much worse than the core fighting until the final day only to fall short. So you can't simply say top 10 pick > 14-16 pick without accounting for how much better competing all season long is to falling back to **** yet again.

That's why the question should be: top 10 pick + this pivotal season turning to **** vs pick 14-16 + this pivotal season ending up a letdown, but the core not quitting & staying in the race until the very last moment. And with that equation, the latter seems much more valuable to us than the former.

If we were early in a rebuild then I'd feel differently, but unless you want my jokes about Rebuild 3.0 to turn into a reality, we can't treat this season as though we're just beginning a rebuild.


We old-timers will use whatever antiquated lingo we want. Now get off my lawn you damn whipper-snapper!

I agree, I'd rather they give it their all, but I don't mind if they tumble if playoffs are out of the picture.

I've never actually seen someone refer to themselves as a "pedant" before. People are obviously familiar with the word "pedantic" but kudos for using it. I bet you could ask 100 people, and 99 wouldn't know what a "pedant" is.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I agree, I'd rather they give it their all, but I don't mind if they tumble if playoffs are out of the picture.

This right here is the mentality that won’t get us anywhere. We can’t be ok with tumbling back down the standings.

 

[cgf]

I agree, I'd rather they give it their all, but I don't mind if they tumble if playoffs are out of the picture.

I've never actually seen someone refer to themselves as a "pedant" before. People are obviously familiar with the word "pedantic" but kudos for using it. I bet you could ask 100 people, and 99 wouldn't know what a "pedant" is.

It's not just about giving their all, it's about them giving their all & their all being enough to keep them in the playoff race until the very end, at the very least.

Well, I'm trilingual, so I like to play around with languages more than the average bear. But I feel like you're underestimating the average person on the street, though I suppose that depends on where you are selecting your sample from...i.e. if you picked a random 100 rolly-pollies right out of an EDM show, they may have a tough time pointing to their own face

 

[AvsFan29]

It's not just about giving their all, it's about them giving their all & their all being enough to keep them in the playoff race until the very end, at the very least.

Well, I'm trilingual, so I like to play around with languages more than the average bear. But I feel like you're underestimating the average person on the street, though I suppose that depends on where you are selecting your sample from...i.e. if you picked a random 100 rolly-pollies right out of an EDM show, they may have a tough time pointing to their own face

I'm 30 years old, and English is my first language, and I live in Toronto, and I've literally never seen anyone use that word lol

 

[AvsFan29]

This right here is the mentality that won’t get us anywhere. We can’t be ok with tumbling back down the standings.

Good thing I have nothing to do with it lol if they tumble after losing a playoff shot, so be it. A better pick will go a long way for this team.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

This right here is the mentality that won’t get us anywhere. We can’t be ok with tumbling back down the standings.

Its ok for fans to wish for high picks, they are not going to play the games anyway lol.

I see no signs that the actual team has given up, they look like they will give it their best and whether that is good enough remains to be seen. The Avs don't feel like a group with a losing attitude, they are just limited by a mediocre roster.

 

[cgf]

The earlier we fall out of the playoff race this season, the worse for the franchise. So it's weird to see someone (even tacitly) rooting for losses at this stage in our rebuild of the rebuild...regardless of whether any of us secretly plays for the team or not.


OT but: Hockey fans may not have as much influence on their players as european or south american football fans, but tell current & former Leafs & Panthros that fan expectations didn't effect them. It may not be as direct as if a player was publically campaigning to tank, but on some level, fanbase apathy most certainly does filter through to the players...be it via social media, the fans in the stands, the questions fans press reporters into asking them, the folks that players run into in their daily lives, etc.

...but that's beside the point

 

[AvsFan29]

Playoff chances up to 74%!

Very nice

 

[ABasin]

delete

 

[ABasin]

There's a difference between picking in the lottery & picking later in the top 40 though. So if you're going to differentiate between picking in various parts of the draft I think you need to split drafting in the lottery from drafting in the rest of the top 40, from drafting in the rest of the top 100, from drafting in the latter rounds. We suck at drafting on the whole, especially after those top picks, and for the most part, I completely agree with your points.

If the Avs draft 1-10 in the first round, they tend to get NHL players. In fact, over the past 9 years, picks 1-10 in various drafts have been the ONLY picks the Avs have turned into solid NHL players. Once that 11th overall pick in the draft comes along, the Avs aren't nearly so good.

Would you care to guess who was the last player the Avs drafted after the first 10 picks of a draft, who turned into a regular NHL player?

Ryan O'Reilly.

 

[AvsFan29]

If the Avs draft 1-10 in the first round, they tend to get NHL players. In fact, over the past 9 years, picks 1-10 in various drafts have been the ONLY picks the Avs have turned into solid NHL players. Once that 11th overall pick in the draft comes along, the Avs aren't nearly so good.

Would you care to guess who was the last player the Avs drafted after the first 10 picks of a draft, who turned into a regular NHL player?

Ryan O'Reilly.

Barrie in the same draft. Was definitely our last good year