EHM The Blue Line

Obviously draft picks are important for all of us, especially in the new cap world, but do you stack the picks across the rounds and try to find to make the best of it and trying to develop them all?. Or do you prefer like me to use to picks to trade up for high first rounder(s), basicly putting all our eggs in 1 basket?. Putting everything on the line with that 1 top 3 pick you have 100 percent faith in will develop into a star for our team?. Qvality > Qvantity imo, but a risky strategy, however it has generelly worked well for me in the past.
Players that have been drafted in the 5/6/7 rounds the year earlier for instance, seems to have higher value then the original draft picks assuming you draft well. Often you can package 3 half decent prospects + our own 1 rounder for a teams first round pick, that you assume/know is gonna end up with a low amouth of points.
Or try with 1 + 2 picks and half decent prospect before the season, normally you can work out a deal like that perhaps with a 1 more prospect depending.
Was wondering how you trade/spend your draft picks in generel, especially interested in your success rate with low round picks as other then tradeblocks .

I try to trade picks in order to have at least a 1st and a 2nd or 3rd pick every year. In later drafts (i.e. 2007 and forward), I try to get rid of all 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th rounders, since I know I probably won't find anyone I'd like with those picks.

I guess it does depend in my case on who I'm GM'ing and as Systemfel said the year... with my Wild and Capitals teams (though I haven't quite decided for sure yet with my Was team) I tend to try to secure a top couple picks. With no Crosby out there I don't think it's essential to get the #1 pick, overall but probably top five I guess?

As for the thirds and beyond I trade prospects either for another team's prospect I like better or for a pick at which I could probably get my own player of the same caliber. I also deal people I don't have plans on keeping to bring in players I do want on my team and maybe add some extra picks for leverage in later deals.

If the system is really thin I have dealt borderline players/prospects and or lower picks for a stable of 8th/9th rounders and brought in guys from Europe to stock the system as it doesn't tend to matter how late you pick them really.

Minstrel wrote: brought in guys from Europe to stock the system a

Any russian?

Actually mainly guys that were playing in the Swedish Elite League since it's the only league outside the NHL that I've managed so I have a better chance of bringing in guys that will have an impact.

Some years the drafts are stacked, some they suck, I monitor the ISS ratings and the guys and decide the value year by year, I have found lots of good goalies, D, and checking forwards from the 4th round down to undrafted FA's.