How Much Help Can the Penguins Reasonably Expect Through the Draft?
While researching my article about Kyle Dubas the other day, I discovered the Penguins currently have 29 picks stockpiled in the next three Entry Drafts, including four first-rounders, four second-rounders and seven third-round picks. Subject to change, of course, especially with the trade deadline approaching.
Truth be told, I feel pretty good about that. I mean, 15 picks in the top three rounds? Surely enough to restock our still semi-depleted talent pool and set us back on the road to respectability, right?
Then I decided to take a peek over my shoulder. Specifically, back to the last time we were in this situation in the early 2000s, post-Jaromír Jágr and pre-Sidney Crosby. In particular, I wanted to see how many players drafted during that era wound up playing for our 2009 Stanley Cup champions.
I decided to start with the 1998 draft because that’s the first year we picked a player (Rob Scuderi) who would play for the ’09 team. I then included the following 11 drafts, up through the one preceding the Cup.
During my sample span, we drafted 99 players.