Reconstruction of the Canadiens: you still have to tick the right boxes to win

A rebuild does not guarantee the Stanley Cup. The fact remains that it is the priority way in the National Hockey League to become competitive.

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Several teams have gone through this process since the early 2000s. This has resulted in some of them drafting a good number of top-10 picks.

But the results did not come overnight. It is still necessary that the teams carry out good repechages and develop their hopes well.

Disaster in Buffalo

The Buffalo Sabers never stop treading water. Last spring, they missed the playoffs for the 11th straight year.

This is a mediocrity record in NHL history.

For their part, the Edmonton Oilers experienced a ten-year drought with no playoffs. After taking part once, they had another three-year slump for a total of one appearance in 13 seasons.

The Panthers have also been absent from the playoffs for ten consecutive years, a sequence that was followed by six exclusions in eight years.

Not easy to win

It’s even harder to win the Stanley Cup.

After seasons of misery, the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche had to wait a few years before getting their hands on the holy grail of hockey.

The Hawks only made the playoffs once in ten years before winning the first of three Stanley Cups in six years in 2010.

Seven years passed between the Tampa Lightning’s last playoff exclusion and their two consecutive titles in 2020 and 2021.

Finally, the conquest of the Avalanche, last July, was preceded by an expeditious exit in the first round, followed by three successive eliminations in the second round.

The following table lists 13 teams that went through a period of reconstruction as well as the number and identity of the players they drafted in the top 10.

Chicago Blackhawks

Participation in the playoffs between 1997-1998 and 2007-2008 (10 seasons) *

7 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

1998
Mark Bell, 8^e

2000
Mikhail Yakubov, 10^e

2001
Tuomo Ruutu, 9^e

2004
Cam Barker, 3^e

2005
Jack Skille, 7^e

2006
Jonathan Toews, 3^e

2007
Patrick Kane, 1^er

Stanley Cup
2010, 2013, 2015

Florida Panthers

Two appearances in the playoffs between 2000-2001 and 2018-2019 (18 seasons) *

11 TOP 10 CHOICES

2001
Stephen Weiss, 4^e

2002
Jay Bouwmeester, 3^e

2003
Nathan Horton, 3^e

2004
Rostislav Olesz, 7^e

2006
Michael Frolik, 10^e

2007
Keaton Ellerbey, 10^e

2010
Erik Gudbranson, 3^e

2011
Jonathan Huberdeau, 3^e

2013
Alexander Barkov, 2^e

2014
Aaron Ekblad, 1^er

2017
Owen Tippett, 10^e

Toronto Maple Leafs

Participation in the playoffs between 2005-2006 and 2015-2016 (11 seasons)

6 TOP 10 CHOICES

2008
Luke Schenn, 5^e

2009
Nazem Kadri, 7^e

2012
Morgan Rielly, 5^e

2014
William Nylander, 8^e

2015
Mitch Marner, 4^e

2016
Auston Matthews, 1^er

edmonton oilers

Participation in the playoffs between 2006-2007 and 2018-2019 (13 seasons)

11 TOP 10 CHOICES

2007
Sam Win, 6^e

2009
Magnus Paajarvi, 10^e

2010
Taylor Hall, 1^er

2011
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 1^er

2012
Nail Yakupov, 1^er

2013
Darnell Nurse 7^e

2014
Leon Draisaitl, 3^e

2015
Connor MacDavid, 1^er

2016
Jesse Puljujarvi 4^e

2018
Evan Bouchard 10^e

2019
Philip Broberg 8^e

Carolina Hurricanes

No playoff appearances between 2008-2009 and 2017-2018 (9 seasons)

5 TOP 10 CHOICES

2010
Jeff Skinner, 7^e

2013
Elias Lindholm, 5^e

2014
Haydn Fleury, 7^e

2015
Noah Hanifin, 5^e

2018
Andrei Svechnikov, 2^e

tampa bay lightning

Participation in the playoffs between 2006-2007 and 2012-2013 (7 seasons)

5 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2008
Steven Stamkos, 1^er

2009
Victor Hedman, 2^e

2010
Brett Connolly, 6^e

2012
Slater Koekkoek, 10^e

2015
Jonathan Drouin, 3^e

Stanley Cup
2020, 2021

New Jersey Devils

Two appearances in the playoffs between 2010-2011 and 2021-2022 (12 seasons)

7 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2011
Adam Larsson, 4^e

2015
Pavel Zasha, 6^e

2017
Nico Hischier, 1^er

2019
Jack Hughes, 1^er

2020
Alexander Holtz, 7^e

2021
Luke Hughes, 4^e

2022
Simon Nemec, 2^e

Buffalo Sabers

No playoff appearance since 2011-2012 season (11 seasons)

10 TOP 10 CHOICES

2013
Rasmus Ristolainen, 8^e

2014
Sam Reinhart, 2^e

2015
Jack Eichel, 2^e

2016
Alexander Nylander, 8^e

2017
Casey Mittelstadt, 8^e

2018
Rasmus Dahlin, 1^er

2019
Dylan Cozens, 7^e

2020
Jack Quinn, 8^e

2021
Owen Power, 1^er

2022
Matthew Savoy, 9^e

Colorado avalanches

Participation in the playoffs between 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 (7 seasons)

5 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2011
Gabriel Landeskog, 2^e

2013
Nathan MacKinnon, 1^er

2015
Mikko Rantanen, 10^e

2016
Tyson Just, 10^e

2017
Hold Makar, 4^e

Stanley Cup
2022

Arizona Coyotes

Participation in the playoffs between 2012-2013 and 2021-2022 (10 seasons)

5 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2015
Dylan Strome, 3^e

2016
Clayton Keller, 7^e

2018
Barrett Hayton, 5^e

2021
Dylan Guenther, 9^e

2022
Logan Cooley, 3^e

Ottawa Senators

Two appearances in the playoffs since the 2013-2014 season (9 seasons)

4 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2018
Brady Tkachuk, 4^e

2020
Tim Stuzle, 3^e
Jake Sanderson, 5^e

2021
Tyler Boucher, 10^e

Vancouver Canucks

Two appearances in the playoffs between 2013-2014 and 2021-2022 (9 seasons)

5 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2014
Jake Virtanen, 6^e

2016
Olli Juolevi, 5^e

2017
Elias Pettersson, 5^e

2018
Quinn Hughes, 7^e

2019
Vasil Podkolzin, 10^e

Detroit Red Wings

No playoff participation since the 2015-2016 season (7 seasons)

6 TOP 10 CHOICES

2017
Michael Rasmussen, 9^e

2018
Filip Zedina, 6^e

2019
Moritz Seider, 6^e

2020
Lucas Raymond, 4^e

2021
Simon Edvinsson, 6^e

2022
Mario Kasper, 8^e

Anaheim Ducks

No participation since the 2018-2019 season
(4 seasons)

4 CHOICES IN THE TOP 10

2019
Trevor Zegras, 9^e

2020
Jamie Drysdale, 6^e

2021
Mason McTavish, 3^e

2022
Pavel Mintyukov, 10^e

* 2004-2005 season canceled