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In the aftermath of the weekend festivities in Dallas, here’s an interesting question to ponder:

Who, would you say, is the NHL’s best drafting team over the past 20 years?

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The obvious answer would seem to be the teams that have had the most success over that time.

Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh lead the way with three Stanley Cups each since 1998, and most fans would identify those three organizations as the shrewdest drafters.

L.A. won in 2012 and ’14 and would rank up there. So would the Devils, who won in 2000 and again in 2003.

Other teams have had their moments but, because drafting is universally considered to be the most important plank in team building, it stands to reason the teams that have won the most have drafted the best.

There’s just one problem — it doesn’t always work that way.

Top to bottom and over the full span of the last 20 years, we’d submit the NHL’s two best drafting teams have been the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators. Both organizations have found productive players all over the draft. Both have been competitive on a year-in, year-out basis, although it took the Preds five seasons to make the playoffs after entering the league in ’98. Neither team has suffered prolonged dry spells that set back the team’s development.