Teams are always looking for an edge when it comes to the best use of their assets. Are they missing an opportunity on first-round picks?
Consider two completely different situations for a moment. In scenario one, you are the GM of a team who needs to completely rebuild your roster.
Age has caught up to your best players. The contention window has shut. You realize you must get younger and fast. How does one accomplish this task?
Having multiple first-round picks is one possible solution. In addition to having your own first rounder near the top of the draft, perhaps you swing a deadline deal and acquire another first rounder.
Chances are that acquired pick will be a later first rounder simply due to the fact that it’s a Stanley Cup contender who gave you the pick in trade. But for a rebuilding team, having multiple top picks can help accelerate your plan forward.
This leads us into scenario two. You are now the GM of a contender who is all in for the Stanley Cup. You are trying to improve your roster in key areas. One way to do that is to use your first-round picks to entice other teams to give you some of their best players.
At this point, the draft is one of the last things on your mind. It’s all about winning it all. You can always deal with the draft when it gets there.
In both scenarios, teams saw first-round picks for different purposes. One team was looking to stockpile picks. The other was looking to stockpile talent in exchange for first-round picks.
That is where our discussion begins. Not all first-round picks are created equally.
Setting the Scene
One of the issues in today’s game is just how the term “first-round pick” is used. While teams would love to acquire a first-round pick when possible, the term itself is generic in nature.
Why? That’s because the first-overall pick and the 32nd-overall pick are both considered “first-round picks.” Obviously, they don’t carry the same value.
Most teams have a real hard time parting with their own first-round picks. While it’s understandable why a team in the top-10 would be very protective of their first rounder, many teams below them value their own first at a similar level.
In other words, for them to be willing to part with it, they have to be overwhelmed by an offer. While on the surface that seems to make sense, there are times in which that might not be the most efficient use of the pick.
This past Trade Deadline put that into some perspective for us. One team in particular moved off not only one first rounder but two. It seems they have realized what their best use of those picks are given their circumstances. It’s certainly not using them at the draft table in June.
Tampa Bay Lightning’s Approach
To put this all into perspective for us about how they could be some inefficiencies in play on first-round picks, let’s look at what the Tampa Bay Lightning did at the NHL Trade Deadline.
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