I was listening to the 32 Thoughts podcast today, and Friedman said something interesting. They were discussing the draft lottery - specifically Chicago "winning" the 2nd overall lottery in this last draft. Friedman then quoted this, which I assume was from the rules themselves:
"You can only win the lottery twice in any five-year period. However, it does not affect a team's ability to retain its presumptive draft position in any draft lottery."
Friedman then went on to explain what that meant, and his explanation matched how we have generally interpreted it: that because Chicago was the second worst team in the NHL, "winning" the lottery for the 2OA pick this year doesn't count as a win and they are eligible to win the lottery in future years.
However, if his quote is directly from the NHL draft rules, that is not how I interpret it. Chicago has won the lottery twice in a row. That is undisputed. The question is whether this second win counts as a win for the purposes of denying them future wins. I would argue, based on the language above, it does, with a caveat.
That language seems unequivocal - if you win the lottery twice, you cannot win again within the five years, with one exception. Chicago has won twice. The only way they can win again is if they finish last or next to last in the next three years and win the lottery for the position where they would have drafted anyway (for example, if they finish 31st in the league again next season, they would be eligible to win the 2OA lottery, but not the 1OA lottery).
Here's the thing: I have not heard anyone else interpret it this way. And I have not read the rules myself (if anyone knows where to find those, I've looked and can't seem to find anything directly from the NHL). Everything on the internet seems to be hockey writers' interpretations. Obviously, Friedman is incredibly plugged in, so I have to think he would know if Chicago is ineligible to move up in future drafts. Perhaps he was not quoting the rule directly, or perhaps there is an official interpretation of the rule that spells it out more clearly. But the way that quote reads makes it sound like a win is a win, and you are limited to two in five years, unless your third win keeps you in the position where you were already going to draft.
I think it's too much to hope that's true because screw Chicago. But I found it interesting.