Let’s get something out of the way right off the bat: no
draft outright sucks. No draft is exceptionally worse than another. Yes, some
drafts yield more superstars than others, and some appear more “sexy”
before the fact, than others, but in general, every draft is about the same in
terms of their yield. What does differ from year to year, is where that talent
is found, and the amount of star talent resulting. Sometimes all the quality
NHLers come from the 1st round, while sometimes the majority are drafted in the
later rounds. One thing remains consistent: every single draft contains quality
NHLers, the key is finding them.

1999 and 2002 have been dubbed as two of the worst draft
years in recent memory, and although they were both heavily saturated with busts
and disappointments (thus garnering the “terrible draft” label),
there were still a number of quality NHLers who emerged from them. 2003 was
labelled as the “mother lode” of NHL Drafts, and while it did produce
a staggering number of stars, its success rate remained on the average. To get
a gist of the contrast in quality between draft classes, here’s a look at some
basic statistics of each draft class from 1999 to 2009.

Looking at that chart, you’ll immediately notice that with
the exception of 2002, the percentage of draftees to lace it up in the NHL is
pretty consistent across all 10 drafts, and the amount of 1st Round Picks to
play over 250 games (which I used as a benchmark to determine established
NHLers) is also tremendously consistent. Of course, there’ll be some variation
in all these categories from year to year, but outside of one or two anomalies,
it appears every draft will consistently yield the following: approximately 90 full
time NHLers (assuming there’s 211 players drafted which is the norm now) and 8
NHL All-Stars.

Every team is allotted 7 picks, one in each of the 7 rounds
of the draft, to do what ever so choose, with. Assuming the team exercises a
selection on all seven, it’s very possible they land multiple NHLers who’ll
play over 250 games, and an NHL All-Star with their 1st Round Pick. In every
single draft from 1999 to 2008, a player selected outside the Top 30 turned
into a cornerstone, All-Star type, skater. If an organization has multiple
selections in the 1st round (like the Flames did last year), the chance of
selecting multiple All-Stars should also increase, if you’re examining the raw
numbers. And that, brings me to my next point.

The quality of a draft is determined by the quality of each
individual organization’s scouting staff and scouting practices, rather than
the players available themselves. It’s a customized system, not a one size fits
all. Even with all the home runs sitting in the first round of the 2003 Draft,
there were still a handful of misses. If the proper work hasn’t been done from
a scouting perspective, the so called “strength” of the draft is
meaningless, you’ll probably screw up your picks either way. There will always
be diamonds in the pile of rocks, you just need the proper supplies and
techniques to find it. If you rely on the entire pile being comprised of
diamonds to get your hands on one, you’re going to have a tough time. Sure,
occasionally the “sure-fire” prospect doesn’t work out (see: Nikita
Filatov), but more often than not, this isn’t the case.

The Flames have recently piled considerable resources into
scouting and have put more of a focus on the recruitment and developmental side
of the organization, in an effort to breed more home grown stars. This gameplan
– at least on the surface – appears to be working.

The change in philosophy came with Jay Feaster taking the
helm and reviewing his entire scouting corps. He  made small tinkering moves, leaving Todd
Button on as Director of it all and hiring good personnel to surround him. The
saying “you get out, what you put in” rings true for the Flames, will
three straight, dare I say stellar, looking drafts. The 2011 class featuring
the likes of Sven Baertschi and Johnny Gaudreau, and is already paying dividends,
with 4 of the 5 draftees having skated in the NHL, while the one who hasn’t
having been dealt for an established NHLer. The 2012 Draft will always been
controversial because of 21st overall selection, but 3 of the 7 draftees have
NHL deals and Jon Gillies and Mark Jankowski are all but guaranteed contracts
whenever they choose to leave college. The biggest fruit of the 2013 NHL Draft
is already a 20 goal scorer in the NHL. A decade from now, experts and writers
could dub any one of these drafts as “poor” or “shallow”,
but it won’t apply to the Flames because they (most likely) scored themselves a
few quality players. They found the diamonds amongst the coal. And it had
nothing to do with the calibre of the draft class, but everything to do with
the scouting and work they put into it.

Same applies to the 2014 Draft. It may not set any records
in regards to the number of NHLers it graduates, and it may not deliver 24 NHL
All-Stars, but it will most certainly supply a select group of National Hockey
League teams with a number of quality hockey players. Some believe that the
Calgary Flames are unlucky to land such a high pick this year because the draft
is “weak”, but fact is the Flames have a great shot at landing a top
player all the same.  For hockey fans,
the concern shouldn’t be aimed at the “quality” of the 2014 Draft class,
but instead at their respective scouting staffs. Do you trust the men at the
helm of your teams scouting staff? Do you believe they’ve done their homework
and are in a position to secure one of the big fish to emerge from this class? From
a Flames perspective, the last few seasons have me confident that they have
“read up” on the class and have strongly educated opinions on most
every single player of note that will soften their chances of missing picks. The
2014 NHL Draft, like all its predecessors, will provide. The question is, who has
properly prepared themselves to cash in?