I think the biggest problem with CBJ over the years is player development, which is somewhat related to the drafting. Plus what didn't help was some early success for the team so instead of picks being in top 3, they mostly were 4-10. Plus none of the later round picks really panned out to be even 3rd or 4th liners.
Nash is the only pick that has panned out and more because of his natural ability.
Klesla was 4th overall and I think he was defenseman of the year candidate in one of the Canadian junior leagues (OHL I think).
CBJ rush their young players. There was some backlash when Hitch wasn't using the younger players. Maybe it was because they weren't ready. Klesla never played in the AHL, it was straight from OHL to NHL. Pretty tough for a d-man. Same with Brule.
Brule was a great junior player, but everyone knew that he had to still bulk up. Instead CJB rushed him, he got injured, getting a fractured sternum, losing a year of development, and more importantly losing confidence.
Even when players seem to develop well, management/coach seem to mess it up. The handling of Brassard is a total mess.
Then with Steve Mason, they anoint him the starter after his rookie season. Obviously, he still needed some more time to develop. Now the pressure is on him b/c he's got the big contract and the starting job is his to lose. It all came too easy, and when Mason didn't play as well b/c of consistency issues, it messed with his confidence.
Plus management has been unable/unwilling to re-sign players. I remember Stralman played well for CBJ, put up some decent numbers, and then he was gone as an UFA b/c he didn't receive a qualifying offer.
CBJ has the wrong hockey people and the set up is all wrong. With the expansion, fans were willing to go thru some tough times to build a winner, but that free pass has been squandered away. I don't know if you can ask them to go thru another 5 years as a bottom feeder to build the team up correctly, but that's what it's going to take, with the RIGHT people, which isn't there right now.
With current management/player development, CBJ will find a way to mess up Yakupov too. There are a few teams that I have zero confidence in their player development, CBJ is one of them.
In our fantasy keeper pool (since 1993), there's a few other GMs that feel the same as I do with CBJ. If I had the 1st overall pick in our draft and Yakupov as picked by CBJ, I'd trade my pick away. Filatov was picked 2nd overall in our draft in his draft year.