George?...What were you doing out there, trading all those picks for a bunch of picks next year? Don't you know the club needs help now??
That seems to be an insistent theme among Caps fans today as the 2007 entry draft concludes. The Caps kept trading down and, ultimately, out of the 2007 draft to accumulate picks in the 2008 draft. Is there a logic in this?
Well, this is precisely what we signed on for in a "draft-centric" strategy for building the club....a sustainable strategy for building and replenishing a roster. And that means parlaying picks now -- in what is almost universally thought to be a weak draft -- for additional picks in next year's draft, thought to be pretty strong at this stage. If a "draft first" strategy is what this franchise is going to employ, that means a multi-year focus, maximizing the potential of this draft and, just as important, drafts to follow.
From a strategic standpoint, I think this is McPhee's strongest draft since he started here. Trouble in saying that, though, is that these kids are flesh-and-blood hockey players. Whether they can actually play at this level is an unknown, and is a matter of scouting ability, not strategy.
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