Rebuilding around the draft: How New York and Detroit did it
When the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009 and the Chicago Blackhawks followed in 2010, tanking hard and drafting high was proven as a sure-fire way to rebuild a team. Sure, there are plenty of dark years as fans of both teams can attest, but the pay-off was worth it.
The method is such a slam dunk that the Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Atlanta Thrashers all experienced plenty of Stanley Cup parades over the past decade.
Hold on, that doesn’t sound right.
Let me check my facts… Well, apparently those teams won just one postseason game since the lockout despite accumulating dozens of top-10 picks. Maybe the tank-hard method isn’t so foolproof after all.
A look at the standings provides another piece of evidence against the traditional rebuild.
The New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings are two of the top teams in the NHL, yet neither has made it there with top draft picks. In fact, neither team has assembled their roster with many first-round picks in general.
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The conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to build a team is by acquiring as many high-end draft picks as possible. The usual way of obtaining those picks is by icing a terrible team for a number of years and waiting for the lottery ball to call your name. However, both the Rangers and the Red Wings lead the NHL, and neither was built through the lottery.
On each squad there are only a few players selected by the franchise in the opening round of the draft. Detroit used first-round picks on Niklas Kronwall, the 29th-overall selection in 2000, and Jakub Kindl, who went 19th in 2005. Likewise, New York’s only home-grown first-round picks are Michael Del Zotto, 20th in 2008, and Marc Staal, 12th in 2005.
Instead of drafting high, the Rangers have spent the better part of the last two decades buying every notable free agent on July 1. Until recently, the tactic worked terribly, as overpaid players like Wade Redden, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez failed to perform in Manhattan.
However, New York’s last two big free agent signings, Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, have performed well for the team, but aren’t the sole reason for the team’s resurgence.
The Rangers have managed to assemble an impressive group to supplement the two high-priced mercenaries without the aid of high draft picks. Gaborik and Richards don’t have to do it all and the Rangers have catapulted up the standings as a result.
New York drafted Derek Stepan, Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky in the second round and captain Ryan Callahan in the fourth round. They also signed NHL ice-time leader Dan Girardi as an undrafted free agent and swindled Montreal by acquiring Ryan McDonough for the contractual anchor that is Scott Gomez.
That’s eight quality players all acquired without a first-round pick.
Similarly, the key to Detroit’s success is the draft, at least what comes after the first round. The Red Wings drafted Jimmy Howard and Jiri Hudler in the second round, while Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula were all third round picks.
I’m sure a lot of teams would want a do-over with their first-round picks after seeing that list.
Bringing in talent through trades is another way the Red Wings have supplemented their core without relying on high draft picks. Dan Cleary, Brad Stuart and Todd Bertuzzi all came to Detroit for very little and have made meaningful contributions, which has helped keep the Wings atop the Western Conference.
However, what’s most impressive is that the major pieces of both teams came from the unlikeliest of places: the depths of the NHL Entry Draft.
The Rangers hit a home run late in the 2000 draft, selecting all-world goalie Henrik Lundqvist in the seventh round, 205th overall. Lundqvist is currently tied for the league lead in save percentage, second in goals-against average, and first in shutouts. In the last four seasons his lowest save percentage was .921.
The Red Wings found similar success with multiple late round steals. Pavel Datsyuk, one of the game’s most complete players, was taken in the sixth round, 171st overall in 1998; Henrik Zetterberg, himself no slouch, was taken in the seventh round, 210th overall in 1999. The two superstars have combined for 1,311 points in 1,367 games. Throw in Tomas Holmstrom, who was a 10th-round pick, and the Wings have made out like bandits when other teams are sleeping near the end of the draft.
Luckily for the Red Wings, drafting elite players at the tail end of the draft can make up for a lack of first-round picks.
Over the past 15 years, the Red Wings have traded their first-round pick in nine different seasons, and they did so again this year, as they recently acquired Kyle Quincey from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Plus, when the Wings do draft in the first round it is rarely earlier than 25th as the team has been extremely successful for a prolonged period of time. The last time the Red Wings picked in the top-10 was in 1991 when they selected Martin Lapointe.
Clearly, drafting well late can make up for a lack of high picks.
Churning out NHLers with late draft picks can also make up for whiffs during the opening round of the draft, which has certainly aided the Rangers.
Over the last 15 years, the Rangers have wasted high draft picks on Bobby Sanguinetti, Al Montoya, Hugh Jessiman, Dan Blackburn, Pavel Brendl, Jamie Lundmark and Stefan Cherneski. Not exactly superstar material. Even when those first-round picks developed into quality players, like Manny Malhotra, it was often for another team.
Yet here the Rangers are, sitting on top of the Eastern Conference.
The success of both Detroit and New York highlights the fact that there is not a single guaranteed way to rebuild a team. Tanking and drafting high can produce the Blackhawks or it can produce the Blue Jackets.
Excellent player development, shrewd trades, well-timed free agent signings and a little bit of draft luck went a long way to create the Wings and Rangers, something the basement dwellers of the league might want to take note of. A bouncing ball might call your name, but that doesn’t mean the Stanley Cup will too.
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