External Additions: How are Championship Teams Typically Built?

Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty ImagesOver the last few weeks, and this last week in particular, there has been a lot of discourse surrounding Pierre Dorion and how he has constructed this Ottawa Senators lineup. They are heavily influenced by players they have drafted or developed, with not many contributions coming from external additions via trades or free agency.

I’ve seen a lot of comments talking about how the Senators will be able to rely on Jake Sanderson, Lassi Thomson, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Ridly Greig, Roby Järventie, Egor Sokolov, Tyler Boucher, etc. in the future, so they won’t have to worry very much about adding established NHLers in the meantime. The problem with that…