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.
