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Draft and develop still tried and true

Updated: June 22, 2004, 8:53 PM ET
By Jim Kelley | ESPN.com

Some years, holding the first overall pick in the NHL draft is like holding a winning lottery ticket.

Whether it turns out to be an impact player in the Ilya Kovalchuk-Rick Nash-Joe Thornton mold or a developing one like a Vincent Lecavalier, Rick DiPietro or Marc-Andre Fleury, many times the player is good enough to affect a franchise's future.

But after those kinds of players are gone, the draft often becomes simply a method of team building -- and not always a very productive one.

Of ...

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