With the break in the NHL, this is as good a time as any to post the final four teams in the West and look back at their draft history from 1999 on.

I've charted each year with the team's point total (blue), the NHL average point total (green), the average number of NHL games the team's draft picks have played in the NHL (brown), and the NHL average games played per pick (yellow).

St. Louis

The Blues are a team that didn't even draft in 1983 because they had a failing ownership group and not many will remember how close they came to moving. With a Stanley Cup last season, the team owes a lot to their drafting success from 2004 forward. The team averaged 7.9 picks per season just a little above average for the league, but pretty good for a mostly successful team. They have been pretty average at the draft since 2011 and this might hurt them a little in a few years, especially on defence.

Notable hits:

2003 – 5^th round 148^th pick – Lee Stempniak (911) – Larry Pleau

2004 – 6^th round 180^th pick – Roman Polak (806) – Larry Pleau

2005 – 3^rd round 85^th pick – Ben Bishop (413) – Larry Pleau

Notable misses:

2004 – 1^st round 17^th pick – Marek Schwarz (6) – Larry Pleau

San Jose

Prior to this season, the Sharks were one of the most consistent teams in the NHL and were above average every year but one from 2003-2004. Knocking their draft picks out of the park in six years without a pick higher than 6^th overall after 1998 helped the cause. Because of their success they have only averaged 7.0 picks per year compared to the average of 7.71.

Notable hits:

1999 – 8^th round 241^st pick – Douglas Murray (518) – Dean Lombardi

2003 – 7^th round 205^th pick – Joe Pavelski (1,030) – Doug Wilson

2005 – 2^nd round 35^th pick – Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1,035) – Doug Wilson

2007 – 6^th round 173^rd pick – Nick Bonino (626) – Doug Wilson

2007 – 7^th round 201^st pick – Justin Braun (669) – Doug Wilson

2008 – 7^th round 186^th pick – Jason Demers (658) – Doug Wilson

Notable misses:

2002 – 1^st round 27^th pick – Mike Morris (0) – Dean Lombardi

2004 – 1^st round 22^nd pick – Lukas Kaspar (16) – Doug Wilson

2006 – 1^st round 16^th pick – Ty Wishart (26) – Doug Wilson

Vancouver

With picking the Sedin twins in 1999 and very good draft years in 2001 and 2004, it helped set the Canucks up for a very successful stretch between 2009 and 2013. What didn't help was below average drafting and giving up picks from 2005 to 2013. The team appears to have righted the ship in 2017 and 2018 with Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.

Notable hits:

1999 – 1^ST round 2^nd pick – Daniel Sedin (1,306) – Brian Burke

1999 – 1^st round 3^rd pick – Henrik Sedin (1,330) – Brian Burke

2001 – 5^th round 151^st pick – Kevin Bieksa (808) – Brian Burke

2003 – 1^st round 23^rd pick – Ryan Kesler (1,001) – Brian Burke

2004 – 3^rd round 91^st pick – Alexander Edler (873) – Dave Nonis

2004 – 9^th round 287^th pick – Jannik Hansen (626) – Dave Nonis

Notable misses:

2000 – 1^st round 23^rd pick – Nathan Smith (26) – Brian Burke

2007 – 1^st round 25^th pick – Patrick White (0) – Dave Nonis

2013 – 1^st round 24^th pick – Hunter Shinkaruk (15) – Mike Gillis

Winnipeg

Atlanta moved to Winnipeg for the 2012 season, so from 1999 to 2011 the Thrashers made the picks and did not do so well after 2003. Once the team was in Winnipeg they have drafted very well, with only one season below average at this point (2017 is very early yet). It is no coincidence that Kevin Cheveldayoff took over and has made a huge difference albeit with some pretty high picks in the 1^st round. But to be fair that is something Don Waddell had in abundance as well prior to 2011, but squandered from 2004 to 2010.

Notable hits:

2003 – 8^th round 239^th pick – Tobias Enstrom (719) – Don Waddell

2012 – 5^th round 130^th pick – Connor Hellebuyck (270) – Kevin Cheveldayoff

Notable misses:

1999 – 1^st round 1^st pick – Patrick Stefan (455) – Don Waddell

2004 – 1^st round 10^th pick – Boris Valabik (80) – Don Waddell

2005 – 1^st round 16^th pick – Alex Bourret (0) – Don Waddell

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