I Hate The Draft Lottery

[EdJovanovski]

I hate that bad teams are rewarded with high draft picks, talented prospects who those poorly managed franchises often ruin. Athletes who spent their whole lives working their butt off to achieve their dreams to be mismanaged and have their development stunted by imcompentant management. Go to the sub-forums of teams who aren't even basement dwellers but bubble teams, and you'll see a bunch of fans actively cheering against their favorite team so they get a better shot at the loser prize. Teams who are 8th place whose fans want to lose even though they're in prime contention of a playoff spot. That is sad. Think of how much more thought would go into managing teams & how advanced scouting would become if teams success depended on it rather than knowing they'll get the clearcut superstar if they suck enough.

I don't know which system should replace it, whether it's that idea of points accumulated once statistically eliminated from contention. Which would still make the genuinely bad teams get better picks, as they'd be eliminated far earlier so have many more games to accumulate points. But it incentivize pushing all the way to the final game for every valuable point. Teams tanking mess the standings up for playoff teams, for instance if tanking team is playing 2WC and 2WC wins to surpass 1WC to get the easier playoff matchup. Those points are very valuable to some teams and others are icing a roster with the straight up intention of losing (obviously athletes play to win, but management selling off any pieces keeping them competitive & icing AHLers). Or better yet, have the draft lottery completely random. Parity sucks and hockey is already the sport that is most strongly influenced by luck rather than top end talent to begin with. A team should never be better off losing.

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[Claypool]

I miss not having a salary cap more. Why build a power house only to have to tear it down because your team is too good?

 

[EdJovanovski]

I miss the salary cap more. Why build a power house only to have to tear it down because your team is too good?

So do I.
The main argument for the salary cap is that small market teams will be disadvantaged, which I do think is a slightly better argument than the argument for rewarding teams for playing poorly. But imo if a team is that small of a market they're either not performing or there isn't much of a demand from the fans for hockey there, and another city would be far more happy to have that team.

 

[LeafsNation75]

As a Leafs fan I will admit being one of those people who wanted them to lose during the 2015-2016 season so they could get the best possible spot in the draft lottery that year. However what you don't realize it was stressful and hard to watch since I'm a huge Leafs fan, however for the future of the franchise it needed to happen. Plus they didn't clinch last place overall until the very final game of the regular season and once it was the draft lottery it all came down to luck. Thankfully the Leafs got the 1st pick in 2016, however what you might not know is during the 4th ball drawing based on the numbers which were already selected (6-8-5) they could only win with the #13. One year before during the Connor McDavid lottery they had the best odds for the 4th ball drawing because the numbers which was already selected (5-14-6) the Leafs needed a #1 ball to be selected and according to a Toronto Star article it was about to happen, until a #2 Oilers ball knocked it away at the last possible second. So after going through all of the emotions its something I don't want to experience for a long time.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

word. Even though in the NFL there is a salary cap and the worst team drafts 1st, good management is rewarded in that league which is why you see the same teams at the top / bottom year after year.

 

[LeafsNation75]

word. Even though in the NFL there is a salary cap and the worst team drafts 1st, good management is rewarded in that league which is why you see the same teams at the top / bottom year after year.

That's why if there was no draft lottery we would see teams in the NHL taking a lot harder. If it was like that during the Connor McDavid lottery I would guarantee the Buffalo Sabres tank might have looked a lot worse than what we saw, which is saying something because it was obvious how they tanked for McDavid and worst case Jack Eichel.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I don't mean I hate the lottery drawing odds and would rather go in reverse order of the standings, I mean I want to get rid of this system altogether and have it random. Every team has the same odds and no-one is better off for losing

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

i think its okay to balance it in favor of the worst teams, BUT there should be a caveat for teams which constantly draft high like the Oilers. Kind of like how the NBA did after the Magic drafted Oneal and Hardaway back to back years

 

[LeafsNation75]

I don't mean I hate the lottery drawing odds and would rather go in reverse order of the standings, I mean I want to get rid of this system altogether and have it random. Every team has the same odds and no-one is better off for losing

If the NHL was to do that wouldn't the best chance have been during the Sidney Crosby draft lottery in 2005? Instead of the NHL giving some teams the best odds and others lower odds based on their records and winning the 1st pick during the previous 3 years, shouldn't all 30 teams be given the same odds because there was no previous season standings to go by.

 

[LeafsNation75]

i think its okay to balance it in favor of the worst teams, BUT there should be a caveat for teams which constantly draft high like the Oilers. Kind of like how the NBA did after the Magic drafted Oneal and Hardaway back to back years

The NBA only changed their draft lottery at that time because when the Magic won it for the 2nd year in a row, they had the worst odds of all the teams and no one expected them to win it.

 

[alko]

With such salary cap, it is almost like without salary cap. And it will go higher.

Not every team could spend money to salaries like Maple Leafs. Coyotes, Hurricanes, Jets and maybe few others will never be at full limit.

 

[Machinehead]

I miss not having a salary cap more. Why build a power house only to have to tear it down because your team is too good?

A salary cap is one thing, but a hard cap just penalizes drafting.

And it doesn't even create parity because the cap monster hits before anyone is good enough to challenge the top teams.

You can't just let the richest teams buy the Cup, but a soft cap or a transfer cap would work much better. Teams should be allowed to keep what they drafted and developed.

 

[Machinehead]

The draft lottery is crap too because then the NHL can start putting guys where they want them, and don't think for a second that they won't. It's all about the dollar bill.

The first two years of the lottery, two huge Canadian markets get their saviors. I'm shocked.

 

[Machinehead]

So do I.
The main argument for the salary cap is that small market teams will be disadvantaged, which I do think is a slightly better argument than the argument for rewarding teams for playing poorly. But imo if a team is that small of a market they're either not performing or there isn't much of a demand from the fans for hockey there, and another city would be far more happy to have that team.

What small market team has benefited from the hard cap?

Any team that was bleeding money is still bleeding money and none of them have won a damn thing.

If you wanna see small markets actually make noise, look at MLB and their soft cap system.

The 2017 World Series saw a team with the 18th largest payroll beat a team with the largest payroll in the history of the sport, right after they beat the richest team in North American sports in previous round.

And those three teams had better and more exciting rosters than any NHL team since 2008.

 

[bob27]

Draft age should be lowered to 16. That way it'd turn into a complete crapshoot and everyone would be on a truly level playing field.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Play well enough to be drafted in the first round but not absolute first.

 

[EdJovanovski]

What small market team has benefited from the hard cap?

Any team that was bleeding money is still bleeding money and none of them have won a damn thing.

Small market team is incentivized to lose, loses, gets elite talent through draft with no supporting cast, player finishes ELC & demands huge paycheck to stay with bad team, either pay up and not afford other players or lose your player to a good team. Repeat

 

[Cubs2024wildcard]

Ain't no Oiler fan clicking on this one.....

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

I think it should be completely random in the non-playoff teams and as is now for playoff teams. With the current system I find myself rooting for losses too often for higher guaranteed pick and odds of picking top3 (currently). There is only one thing to completely prevent tanking and making all teams compete and all fans always cheering for losses and that is making the top 15 draft picks totally random. But the NHL likes its teams competitive and pretty even (draft system and cap), so I doubt they do it.

 

[Kshahdoo]

With the same tax rate of 40%, if your income is $100k/year, you'll pay $40k, and if it's $100M/year, you'll pay $40M. Is it fair?

 

[Pavels Dog]

Draft lottery is already changed to make it harder for the worst teams to actually get the best picks. Don’t go making it any more difficult now that Detroit is in position to maybe get a top 5 pick for the first time in 3 decades.

 

[BrockLobster]

So you want no cap. And the best teams to get the best craft picks? Sounds like an awesome fun league. Just go back to 6 teams then. Contract 25 teams.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

IMO instead of having lottery for only top 3, have it for the whole top 15

 

[crackdown44]

The draft lottery is crap too because then the NHL can start putting guys where they want them, and don't think for a second that they won't. It's all about the dollar bill.

The first two years of the lottery, two huge Canadian markets get their saviors. I'm shocked.

Try thinking about something before you say it. What do you think would have been better for the NHL? Matthews in Toronto or Matthews in Arizona?

Hint: Toronto is going to sell out with or without Matthews

 

[Aladyyn]

I miss not having a salary cap more. Why build a power house only to have to tear it down because your team is too good?

Which is why there should be a soft cap like in the NBA.

Lottery shouldn't exist. Just let the worst team get the #1 pick and be done with it.