[quote quote=64201]I see it this way. The elite teams that have won the cup over the past 2 decades have mostly the same things in common. They draft the elite talent first, especially at C, 1D and goalie, and then build the team around those elite parts through signings and development of the lesser draft picks.
The Flyers strategy SEEMS to be draft the lesser parts (with a FEW exceptions) and try to sign the elite talent through FA. This will result in overpaying for your talent and missing out on those cost controlled years. Yes they have Michkov and hopefully Martone on the (hopefully elite) level, but they are wings, so right there you are behind the 8 ball.
They keep talking about drafting “Flyers type players”. But Flyers type players haven’t won a cup in 50 years. Calling it CULTURE is a pablum. Every team that wins has culture. Winning breeds culture, not the other way around. Not without the talent to get it done.
The result is what we have now and will continue to have for the foreseeable future. A hard working team that lacks elite talent and will never be able to beat a hard working team that HAS elite talent. Culture and hard work is not some exclusively Flyers trait, though they would have you believe it is.
So lets recap, they lack elite talent, especially at the important positions, they have no elite talent in the pipeline despite having MANY high draft picks over the past few years. And are getting a less realistic chance to draft that elite talent as they rise “slightly” into the lower end of bubble territory.
The FA agent market is already thin and getting thinner. So what is the plan? Throw a Max deal at McDavid? Yeah sure…..
Trade some of the wings for a young center who could fill the 1C role? I guess.
They seem to think they can win with depth over talent. I guess they need to find some of the depth, since they lack in that department as well…..
Its very disheartening.[/quote]
Right from Dannys mouth:
“But like I said, when you’re not spending $12 million on a player, or even two like Edmonton does… Colorado has three or four high-end guys. We’re not going to be built that way. So depth will be important to us.”