....we've already drafted 9 first round picks?



2000 - Rusty Klelsa - 4th
2001 - Pascal Leclaire - 8th
2002 - Rick Nash - 1st
2003 - Nikolai Zherdev - 4th
2004 - Alexandre Picard - 8th
2005 - Gilbert Brule - 6th
2006 - Derick Brassard - 6th
2007 - Jakub Voracek - 7th
2008 - Nikita Filatov - 6th

All selected top 8 or higher. Man that's a lot of years to be drafting that high when you think about nine straight drafts.

Think about it—that could ice three full lines if all were forwards.

Anyway you slice it, drafting that high for so long translates into a long damn time that Jacket fans have failed to see success or the playoffs...and people wonder why attendance is down?

What's more impressive is that we haven't traded any of these guys. Nine first round picks and they are all with the organization still. Unfortunately I think that has as much to do with our lack of first-round success more than anything as a lot of these guys just aren't worth much on the market. I do expect that to change this offseason, however.

-LTL