29 of the last 30 Cup teams have featured a top-3 overall draft pick
This is the key here. Every team has first round picks, because every team picks in every round, unless they trade their picks away. But top 3 overall picks, those are far less common. And statistically, it is very difficult to win without at least one. We got #2 and #1 in back to back years.
This statistical factoid includes Jay Bouwmeester for the Blues last year, so those top-3 picks don’t have to be made by that team. Let’s see which teams in the NHL have a top-3 pick on their roster (the player named is not an exhaustive list, just the first I found):
Anaheim Ducks - Erik Gudbranson
Arizona Coyotes - Taylor Hall
Boston Bruins - (Nick Ritchie, 10th Overall)
Buffalo Sabres - Jack Eichel
Calgary Flames - (Sam Bennett, 4th Overall)
Carolina Hurricanes - Andrei Svechnikov
Chicago Blackhawks - Patrick Kane
Colorado Avalanche - Nathan McKinnon
Columbus Blue Jackets - Pierre-Luc Dubois
Dallas Stars - Miro Heiskanen
Detroit Red Wings - (Sam Gagner, 6th Overall)
Edmonton Oilers - Connor McDavid
Florida Panthers - Aaron Ekblad
Los Angeles Kings - Drew Doughty
Minnesota Wild - Eric Staal
Montreal Canadiens - Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Nashville Predators - Matt Duchene
New Jersey Devils - Jack Hughes
New York Islanders - (Andrew Ladd, 4th Overall)
New York Rangers - Kaapo Kakko
Ottawa Senators - Bobby Ryan
Philadelphia Flyers - Nolan Patrick
Pittsburgh Penguins - Sydney Crosby
San Jose Sharks - Joe Thornton
St. Louis Blues - Jay Bouwmeester
Tampa Bay Lightning - Steven Stamkos
Toronto Maple Leafs - Auston Matthews
Vancouver Canucks - (Elias Pettersson, 5th Overall)
Vegas Golden Knights - (Cody Glass, 6th Overall)
Washington Capitals - Alexander Ovechkin
Winnipeg Jets - Patrik Laine
Only six teams do not have a former top-3 pick playing for them. Of those, two have a 4th overall, one has a 5th overall, and two have a 6th overall.
Basically that factoid is meaningless nonsense. Yes, statistically, it would be far less likely for an NHL team to win this season without having one, but that isn’t because it’s an overwhelming advantage, but because everyone has one.
Back on topic: 5-overtime game, holy shit.
The New York Rangers did not have one until very recently.
I watched the last two periods of that ridiculous game.
I love a long OT.
You had Marian Gaborik from 2009-10 to 2012-13, then you had Rick Nash from 2012-13 from 2017-18, and got Kaapo Kakko in 2019-20. There is literally a single year in the past 11 seasons where you didn’t have a top 3 pick on the roster, and that only because of this arbitrary cutoff where 5th overall pick Ryan Strome and 6th overall pick Mika Zabinejad don’t count.
Seriously, this argument is fucking stupid and complete nonsense. Most teams usually have a top 3 pick on the roster, because they either suck and got one recently, or they are good enough to trade for them. And when the majority of teams have a top 3 pick on the roster, guess what, it is of course more likely than not that the cup-winner will have one on the roster as well. Especially if they traded for one.
Rangers South win the cup.
It’s now official.
I saw he’s talking about free agency. He’s no longer an S-rank goalie, but he is still an A-rank. There are teams that could definitely use him.
I bet he ends up somewhere being a needed good goalie, but also a mentor/coach for a younger one. He can keep juicing his stats before he retires and enters the hall of fame.
If he wins 8 more games he’ll be #5 on the “most games won” list, passing Fleury. (Assuming Fleury somehow wins zero more games) 
But… He’d have to win 233 more to get to the top. That ain’t happening.
Very fascinating info I learned today. Since there is not likely to be more hockey news before the draft, and Lundqvist got bought out, there is a lot of discussion going in the hockey community about Hank’s career status and such. Someone brought up this amazing image.
You might think Hank was really that good, and he was incredible, but not actually THAT good. You see, there’s a problem.
GA (goals against) are a very objective measure. How many goals got let in?
xGA should be closer to objective, but not entirely. And the goal judges at Madison Square Garden, for whatever reason, were much more lenient than other arenas. Every goaltender, regardless of who it was, had a higher xGA at Madison Square Garden. This means that Rangers goaltenders, i.e.: Hank, had much better numbers whenever xGA was factored in. To get his “real” stats they have to make corrections to remove the flawed tracking at MSG.
Doc Emrick is retiring. On the one hand, he’s a legend of broadcasting, and his unique style is unforgettable. On the other hand, I personally find that unique style annoying, and am glad he’s out.
Holy Fucking Shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTUNScEafKc
New Mighty Ducks TV series, in which for some reason the Ducks is the bad guy team.
I’ve never seen Estaves look more like a Sheen.
So, they’re basically pulling a Cobra Kai on it.
Hockey officially happening next month. Not expecting this to go well plague-wise. without the extreme bubble they had last time.
Yeap. This is going to be a shitshow.
It’s one thing to bubble to that level during a playoff. It’s another thing to do it during an entire season. If football is any indication, this is going to get bad.
It begins.
