from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

In the team-building dynamic, a roster consisting of 50 percent homegrown draftees is quite healthy. In fact, when compared with the Cup finalists, Vegas and Florida, it’s off the charts. Maybe we need to adjust the narrative at least a tiny bit about the foibles, failures, and pratfalls of the Bruins on draft day (next edition: June 28-29 in Nashville)?...

The Knights, led into the postseason by ex-Sabres cornerstone Jack Eichel, entered the Cup Final with Nicolas Hague (pick No. 34 in 2017) as their lone draftee slated for the lineup. Again, that’s 20 players, and one homegrown draftee.

The Panthers, with ex-Flames first-rounder Matthew Tkachuk leading the charge, planned to suit up only three of their own draftees: Aleksander Barkov (No. 2, 2013), Aaron Ekblad (No. 1, 2014), and Anton Lundell (No. 12, 2020). It took some very lean years to acquire those high picks, but for a franchise with such a disjointed management/ownership history, the front office made some top-notch picks and had the wisdom to keep them on the payroll.

All in all then, only four of the 40 projected roster players for Game 1 of the Cup Final were selected in the draft by those clubs. The rest were obtained via trades, free agency, and waivers. In the Knights’ case, four were acquired in the 2017 expansion draft — William Carrier, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brayden McNabb. Six seasons gone by, those four castaways, average age 30, are now are playing in their second Cup Final.

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