With the Habs decimated by injuries for the second consecutive years, Montreal fans are demanding that we tank and get a top 5 pick.
The theory being that a top 5 pick is necessary to win the cup. And that without such a pick we are doomed.
But when I look at the Habs we have two top 5 picks in Price and Pouilot and we have top ten pick in Andrei Kostitsyn. And if we look at where Getzlaf was picked, I'd rather have a top 23 pick.
And yes Andrei, Price, Pouilot are part of our core talented players, but do you really believe another player of that caliber is all that stands between Montreal and the Cup?
Certainly not.
And frankly Markov, Plekanec, Gomez, Gionta, and Cammelieri are far more important to the team, and they were not top 20 picks. They were late round draft picks, or free agent pick ups.
The myth of the top 5 pick is the Crosby/Ovechkin myth. The theory being that if you can draft a player like that you have the ability to win the cup.
The problem is that you can have drafted such a pick, like the Thrashers, he can have panned out like Kovalchuk did, and you still stink.
Winning is a team sport, and you need a balanced team.
The Montreal Canadiens will not be better because they get a top 5 pick.
In the new NHL, it's unclear what is necessary to win a cup. Every team that has won the cup has serious deficiencies in their lineup. There are no 1976 Habs or 1998 Red Wings.
Right now what's clear is that when a team loses it's core players to injury, that team will perform poorly.
And that's what happened.
