Pavels Dog
Registered User
Relevant NHL talent from 2019 draft and on:The point though is that while sure NJ has maybe missed on someone like Holtz, they have hit on picks that weren't expected to like Bratt or Casey or Mercer (or a UFA or trade acquisition like Seigenthaler). DET hasn't done that yet. Can't just always be doing everything at pace or expectation, there needs to be some sort of overperformance somewhere. Maybe that's Augustine or Mazur or someone else down the line, but as of right now it's no one. It's a real problem with Yzerman that there's not a single guy on the roster you can point to -- even if it's a third liner or a 4D -- and go "wow he really made a lot out of nothing there." An even bigger one to me that he doesn't seem that interested in even trying to find those kinds of guys.
New Jersey - Hughes, Mercer, L. Hughes, Nemec
Detroit - Seider, Raymond, Edvinsson, Kasper
Doesn't seem vastly different. Going by draft position I'd argue Detroit's overperformed.
Yeah, NJ's been more aggressive about putting themselves into a playoff position. Because they hit on picks in 2016-2017. That's what lottery luck does. Yeah you can point to Bratt, great pick. But would they be where they are if they had Michael Rasmussen and Jesper Bratt instead of Hischier and Bratt? If you want to discuss the Holland era drafting failures, go ahead. We're all here for it. It was a mess. But NJ isn't a team built on amazing late round drafting; they're a team built with historic lottery luck.
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