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Photo by Steve Bosch / Vancouver Sun

Asked this week about his year working with the rebuilding lineup — his second full season in 2000-01 saw the Canucks return to the playoffs — Crawford took note of how the young players on his team found their feet that season.

“It was a team that had some good young talent. That was the year the Sedins were drafted … you knew the next year you were going to have two big pieces coming into your lineup,” he said. “But that year, there were a lot of good young players that really stepped up.

“We had young forwards like Matt Cooke, Harold Druken, Peter Schaefer, Artem Chubarov; they were all good players who were coming into their own.”

The only one of Quinn’s 1990s first-rounders to make an impact was Mattias Ohlund. Deep in his drafts, though, Quinn’s scouting team, led by Mike Penny (now with the Maple Leafs), did find some gems.

Just look at this list: 1992, Mike Peca, Adrian Aucoin; 1993, Scott Walker; 1994, Dave Scatchard, Bill Muckalt, Tyson Nash; 1995, Schaefer, Brent Sopel; 1996, a true bust of a year; and 1997, Druken, Cooke.

(Burke’s first draft in 1998 was pretty good too, netting Bryan Allen in the first round, followed by Chubarov and Jarkko Ruutu.)

Photo by Mark van Manen / Vancouver Sun

Not all these players made it with the Canucks, but those who did were key depth players, and most of the others proved to be quality trade chips.

The Canucks’ success then in finding depth players in the draft meant that they didn’t have to worry about chasing free agents, and it also allowed for trades using areas of strength — like a deep forward corps — to shore up areas of need by making bold decisions, like by simply turning down Schaefer’s contract demands and flipping him for Sami Salo.

Playoffs returned to Vancouver in 2001, three years into Burke’s time in charge. By Burke’s fifth season in charge, the Canucks were a powerhouse, one built on some smart drafting and some shrewd trading and not a whole lot of top-end work in free agency.

Take note, modern Canucks.

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