Rough drafts - 06-25-10

Part of the reason the Penguins were a bad team towards the end of Craig Patrick's tenure was the franchise's failure to draft and develop its own talent. In the early 2000s, the team's "future" was in the hands of likes of first-rounder busts like Milan Kraft and Konstantin Koltsov. Sure the team unearthed a few gems likes Ryan Malone and Rob Scuderi in later rounds, but they were more the exception. Players like Shane Endicott and Matt Murley were more the rule.

The team did eventually draft and develop talents like Brooks Orpik and Maxime Talbot, but by the time they were ready to contribute, it was too late for Patrick. He was replaced by Ray Shero in 2006.

Since Shero's regime first began drafting in 2006, the Penguins have chosen four players who have reached the NHL. Combined, those players have appeared in 352 regular season games. 12th most among teams since in that time period.

Of those 352 games, 327 are represented by Jordan Staal, who was the No. 2 overall pick in 2006. Other 25 are split between Dustin Jeffrey (15), Luca Caputi (9) and Alexander Pechurskiy (1).

• Staal was a can't miss pick at No. 2. It didn't take a crack scouting staff to get that one right.
• Caputi was at one time the team's best minor league prospect until he was traded to the Maple Leafs earlier this year in a bad deal which brought Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh.
• Jeffrey has preformed well in his few cups of coffee in the NHL the past two seasons, albeit in an unspectacular role as a third- or fourth-lner.
• Pechurskiy's one game of NHL experience was an absolute fluke as he was recalled from his junior team when the team's top two goaltenders - Marc-Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson - were injured. Since the Penguins were in Vancouver, they couldn't get the No. 4 goaltender, Brad Thiessen, up to the Pacific Northwest in time, so they signed Pechurskiy to a one-game contract to back up No. 3 John Curry. When Curry was chased in a rout, the Penguins did the unthinkable and played Pechurskiy.

So if you take away a a very easy selection in Staal and 35 minutes of mop-up duty by Pechurskiy, the Penguins' drafts have produced two NHL players, one of whom is no longer on the roster, under Shero.

Is it fair to criticize Shero and his scouts for such a meager output? Is this evidence of poor scouting and development?

Probably the biggest reason the Penguins haven't produced much is the fact they have dealt quite a few draft picks and prospects away in trades:

• At the 2008 trade deadline, Shero took a huge gamble and traded away 2007 first-round pick Angelo Esposito as well as the team's first-round pick in 2008 to the Thrashers as part of the blockbuster deal which brought Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh.
• Also at the 2008 deadline, the Penguins acquired Hal Gill from the Maple Leafs in exchange for a second- and fifth-rounder in 2008. The fifth-round pick was eventually re-acquired by way of the Rangers and used to select forward Andy Bathgate.
• The previous season, the Penguins acquired Georges Laraque from the Coyotes in exchange for prospect Daniel Carcillo and a third-rounder in 2008.

Another thing to consider is to consider the fact that the Penguins really haven't needed to play too much of their own drafted talent since 2006. They've been a Stanley Cup contender for the past three seasons. Each of the past three seasons. Conversely, the Blues have produced 548 man games since the 2006 draft, the most in the NHL in that time span. They've reached the playoffs once in the past five seasons (2009) and they were swept in four games.

Meanwhile the Red Wings, long the model franchise in the NHL, have not produced one NHL man game since 2006.  They have drafted 25 players in the past four years and not one has played in an NHL game for Detroit.

For the sake of comparison, take a look at the other teams in the NHL. All players are listed with the amount of games they have played for the team which drafted them:

*-No longer with franchise.

Is there room to criticize Shero? Or is it too early in his tenure to take him to task?