Well I asked because I addressed this very thing you're saying yesterday. So either you didn't fully read my post on this...Or you don't want to fully digest it. For whatever reason you don't want to see the reality of the situation which is...The "new" lottery rules don't change anything - Getting top picks and hitting on them is still the most effective way to become a perennial Cup contender.
You want to just throw out everything that the Kings, Blackhawks, Penguins, Avalanche, Lightning, and Panthers have accomplished with tons of top 10 picks on all of their Cup winning rosters? Got news for you...Of that last 16 Cup winners those teams won 12 of them. That means 75% of the last 16 Cup winners had their core (most important players) being acquired by not trades or free agency...But top draft picks.
If you truly think that's going to change now that you can move up 10 spots in the lottery as opposed to 4, then you either don't know franchise building...Or are just denying that drafting top 5 works because you don't want to see the Islanders go down that road.
The reality is that in today's NHL more elite players/all-stars/hall of famers spend their prime years with the team that drafted them than are traded...So assuming you're going to build a Cup winning team with trades or free agency is literally going against what the data says.
If you want to stick your head in the sand and continue on with Lou and his "trade 1st rounders for average talent, then resign those players to bloated/lengthy deals that lead to a fringe playoff team at best" be my guest, but don't sit there and try to manipulate actual proven data to justify your opinion. At least have the balls to admit you don't want the Isles to lose to get top draft picks and build a team that way for whatever reason.