The Ducks had Lindholm, Theodore, Pettersson and Montour at one point

[Hostile Offer]

I feel really the only thing the Ducks miscalculated there was giving Vegas Theodore to keep Vatanen around but boy oh boy did they they mess that up, as Theodore would pretty much immediately become a core piece on a perennial contender while Vatanen's time with the Ducks was up anyway and he was shipped off a few months later. I think they got decent enough assets back for all of Lindholm, Manson and Montour once it was evident the team was headed for a rebuild. Sure they kinda tied their own hands regarding Fowler with his contract and probably held on to him for too long but I don't think they really lost anything essential because of that.

 

[FiveTacos]

Tbh I think it kind of highlights the difficulty and importance of finding a legit #1, as well as how meaningless good drafting can be if the organization doesn't realize what they have (Theodore).

The Ducks overall have drafted quite well, but the problem is they didn't really draft any superstars for a long time. Fowler and Lindholm at their peak were both top pairing guys, but neither was what I'd consider an elite 1D, more like okay 1Ds and really good 2Ds. And their best forward finds were guys like Rakell or Palmieri ... good players, but not guys you can build a team around. They've even found a lot of legit goalies over the years, but again no superstar one.

Overall their drafting has been consistently good, but home runs are lacking.

 

[LaP]

a.k.a be patient with kids