Building your team through the draft, on paper, makes a lot of sense. You theoretically get the best value when someone is on their entry-level contract and then giving them progressive raises as restricted free agents. The New York Islanders have used this format for a very long time.
Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t get you over the hump due to poor drafting. Misses are going to happen in the draft, but it’s about capitalizing on the assets you have in your own system and then supplementing that through free agency and trades.
The Islanders have a chance to do that with offer sheeting, Mitch Marner.