Bloody Brian Burke
#1 CFL Fan!
I mean, define generational? Are we talking HHOF'ers? Most drafts from 86-96 had at least 2 HHOF'ers or will-be HHOF'ers. The draft classes in the late 90s stunk but those before it and after it had the same share of stars that drafts in the early 10's did.FACEOFF RULES ARE WORKING!
Right barrel, wrong apple.
Yes, there is only so much you can do in defensive systems even at the NHL level. But the increase in scoring is not because coaches are learning how to break those systems. It's because the players that are coming into the NHL nowadays are better prepared, more talented and light years faster than players of the past. They are simply too good to be contained by any "system". A mid-round draft pick the last three years is probably better conditioned, better trained and more physically talented than a first overall entering the league 30 years ago. How many "Generational" talents have we seen the last ten years?
Hell, we've had a few drafts where more than one "generational" talent was chosen lately. Eichel and McDavid. Malkin and Ovechkin. We are living in amazing times. The things the players are doing is amazing.
And to think, they did it all without putting the goalies at risk or enlarging the nets.
The increased number of teams and the added opportunity that affords and the added internationalism of the game mean there should be a higher number of “generational” talents in the league anyway. The generational talents of the last ten years are the ones who presided over a league that became harder to score in in the first place, in the same way generational guys like Lemieux and Gretzky saw the 90s scoring dip happen in their primes.