Just how did Phoenix rise from the ashes?

Ask Wayne Gretzky and he'll point to Dave Draper, whom he hired before the 2001 trade deadline. "The key to building an NHL franchise is through the draft," says the Coyotes co-owner. (Clichés somehow sound more profound coming from the Great One.) "Dave did a tremendous job in Colorado evaluating talent."

Draper's picks in Colorado included star scorers Chris Drury (fifth round), Milan Hejduk (sixth) and Alex Tanguay (first). But building through the draft is more than choosing good players. It's using draft choices as bargaining chips for young talent. When the Avs were still the Nordiques, Draper parlayed the rights to Eric Lindros for a package of players and picks that included a prospect named Peter Forsberg.

That's why Gretzky coaxed the 61-year-old Draper out of retirement to become head of scouting and player personnel. And by his first Coyotes draft last year, Draper had already stockpiled five picks in the first three rounds. They include hot prospects RW Fredrik Sjostrom, D Mathew Spiller and C Martin Podlesak.

Step 1 was to trade for younger (and cheaper) talent. Turns out the players Draper got are also pretty darn skilled. The master stroke in the overhaul sent Keith Tkachuk (30) to St. Louis for Michal Handzus (25) and Ladislav Nagy (23). Tkachuk scored 38 goals and made $8.3M.

LW Nagy scored 23 goals on the first line and C Handzus added 15 as a checker: 38 goals for a combined $1.8M. Draper also squeezed St. Louis for C Jeff Taffe, who netted 34 goals for NCAA champ Minnesota, plus a No. 1 pick. He then flipped future picks with Philly for C Daymond Langkow, who led the Coyotes in scoring.

The bottom line: Elite St. Louis spent $57M for 98 points and a No. 4 playoff seed and a trip to Round 2. Phoenix, which was supposed to fall off the map without Tkachuk, got 95 points for $30M and a surprise No. 6 playoff seed.

Draper had four picks in the first three rounds of the 2001 draft. He has at least three picks in the first two rounds both this year and next. Turns out the Great One may have a pretty good one on his hands.

This article appears in the June 24 issue of ESPN The Magazine.