You both are right.
The Detroit Red Wings made their team a product of winning Stanley Cups by drafting smart in the draft...
Lets take a further look:
Henrik Zetterberg, 7th round (210th overall)
Pavel Datsyuk, 6th round (161th overall)
Nicklas Lidstrom, 3rd round (53rd overall)
Sergei Fedorov, 4th round (74th overall)
Vladimir Konstantinov, 11th round (221st overall)
Johan Franzen, 3rd round (97th overall)
Tomas Holmstrom, 10th round (257th overall)
These are some of the core star/superstar brass that have made up the team's 4 Cups from 1997 to 2008. Not one of those players was a 2nd round pick. A true testament to Detroit's management and scouting staff!
I dare not bring up Steve Yzerman's name. He was a early pick, and a clear choice at 4th overall. Granted he should have gone first overall in the 1983 NHL Draft, not Brian Lawton.
Now lets move onto their signings and trades for the other core players that made them winners...
Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Larry Murphy, Brian Rafalski, Daniel Cleary, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios....
Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille only played into one Cup each, but definitely were apart of Red Wing Cup Championships.
At the end of the day, what Detroit does so well, is staying on top of the standings, continuously being a Cup contender year-in and year-out for two straight decades. They have accomplished this from growing their core out through successful draft years, and building onto that core, by signing established veteran complimentary players into a winning culture.
So neither of you are wrong. You're both right. In the end, you can't just sign a team and expect to win year-in and year-out like the Rangers did pre-2004/2005 lockout, nearly buying two thirds of their roster through signings and trades. Or focus solely on just winning through getting top picks like the Edmonton Oilers of today. It's the best of both worlds. It all comes down to management and the scouting staff. Once you have that, everything else follows.
