The team that tanked the most aggressively got Bedard.

[monkforasia]

The Hawks got lucky. Simple as that. The GM put them in the best position to rebuild. People are always going to cry if their team doesn't win. I guarantee that if all the lottery teams had the small odds, his team finished with the worst record, and they don't win the lottery, he would be coming onto these forums and complaining - change it to worst team please!

 

[JTB1974]

The Hawks got lucky. Simple as that. The GM put them in the best position to rebuild. People are always going to cry if their team doesn't win. I guarantee that if all the lottery teams had the small odds, his team finished with the worst record, and they don't win the lottery, he would be coming onto these forums and complaining - change it to worst team please!

They never should have changed it. Having a lottery was the worst thing the league could have done. If a team finishes with the worst record 5 years in a row, so be it. They thought having a lottery would prevent teams from deliberately tanking but instead it just created more teams deliberately tanking because now all non playoff teams have a shot at winning the #1 pick and they are all racing to improve their odds.

 

[GreatSaveLuongo]

Such a Hawks thing, beat the Pens kicked them out of playoffs and win 1st overall...

 

[hawksrule]

I don't think there's anything likable about the Blackhawks right now. Genuinely.

We’re about to draft the best player of the coming decade. They’d pretty likable.

 

[hawksrule]

The owner got pissed when people were asking about it, the original people might be gone but he’s part of the problem

So fine him a billion dollars, make him sell the team, whatever, Chicago fans won’t complain. Funny that the only punishment everyone wants (draft picks) is the one punishment that benefits your own teams.

 

[hawksrule]

I don't think forcing a kid to live and play some where he wouldn't pick is unfair and undemocratic.

I know sports leagues in NA allow it, but it should be illegal.

The rest of your response is gobbledygook.

No one’s forcing a kid to live or okay anywhere. It’s a job. If they want to play in the nhl, they have to go where the job is, just like anyone else who works. If they don’t wanna live somewhere, they don’t have to take the job.

 

[hawksrule]

We can just sweep it under the rug if you’d like.

Chicago is still run by the same piece of shit owner. So until then, I’ll continue to rip on their organization.

Make sure bedard doesn’t watch video alone.

Edgy.

 

[Jay26]

Yep. It's disgusting. And right from Toews/Kane to Bedard. f*** that organization and that city.

 

[archangel2]

Seems to me the other fan bases who were openly tanking are the ones pissed. Hawks announced a full rebuild about 18 months ago and did not hide it. Other teams denied it while clearly tanking.

 

[Ninety7]

Edgy.

You willingly support the Chicago Blackhawks. Don’t talk to me.

 

[hawksrule]

You willingly support the Chicago Blackhawks. Don’t talk to me.

Even edgier.

 

[TooManyHumans]

Tanking makes sense in the NHL. People need to get over it.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Larry Brooks the latest NHL reporter to come out and report the obvious truth that the tank/lottery had more than the faint whiff of manure.

Unlikely Maple Leafs-Penguins scenario could bring Mike Sullivan to coach Rangers

Inside Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald’s apparent offseason mandate to bring in a franchise goaltender, and more.

nypost.com

It is always about Gary Bettman’s relationships with individual team owners. Never forget that.

So though the “fix” might not have been in for the lottery, in which the draft’s golden child wound up on the league’s favorite-son franchise, the commissioner enabled that by refusing to exact any meaningful discipline on the Wirtz ownership in Chicago relating to the Kyle Beach sexual abuse case and decade-long coverup.

The Devils lost a first-rounder and a third-rounder and were fined $3 million over the contrived Ilya Kovalchuk circumvention case before the first-rounder was returned after the team was sold to a more kindly viewed ownership. The Coyotes were stripped of first-round and second-round picks for violating combine testing rules. The Blackhawks?

A chump-change fine of $2 million was levied in mid-December of 2021 and permission was granted with eyes wide open to participate in the 2023 Connor Bedard sweepstakes.

...
Finally, if this were a home for conspiracy theories, I would ponder why the NHL invited three journalists to watch the live lottery ping-pong ball exercise so that the trio would immediately and all in unison claim, “It was not rigged!” so that the folks from Ninth Avenue would not be obliged to issue the disclaimer when Columbus and Anaheim were leapfrogged by Chicago.

But that’s only if this were a home for conspiracy theories.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Pick #1 should be a equal chance (6.25%) to all teams that didn't make the playoffs.
Picks #2 onwards should be from worst to best.

that would be my take on it anyways.

 

[New User Name]

No one’s forcing a kid to live or okay anywhere. It’s a job. If they want to play in the nhl, they have to go where the job is, just like anyone else who works. If they don’t wanna live somewhere, they don’t have to take the job.

Bottom line is they don't have a choice of what city/team they can play for.

Drafts should be illegal in a democracy. Plenty of people agree with me. Just google it.

 

[EddieTheEagle]

They never should have changed it. Having a lottery was the worst thing the league could have done. If a team finishes with the worst record 5 years in a row, so be it. They thought having a lottery would prevent teams from deliberately tanking but instead it just created more teams deliberately tanking because now all non playoff teams have a shot at winning the #1 pick and they are all racing to improve their odds.

So, finishing last guarantees you the top pick?

And this WON’T encourage tanking? Come on. You’ll never see a more blatant tear down and shit effort from the NHL’s average clubs.

Current system is fine and the last results are proving it. The worst two teams that also tanked were not rewarded. While many think Chicago tanked the hardest, they finished ahead of the Ducks and Jackets.

 

[JianYang]

So what is the league going to do next year when 10 teams are competing to see how badly they can trash their rosters for 3/4 of the season ? There will still be a couple delusional management teams next year who wont tank. But still. Clearly tanking works. The harder the tank the better.

This idea that the lottery is preventing tanking is ridiculous.

The lottery does not prevent tanking. Everyone knows this. Even the nhl knows this despite what bettman says on camera.

 

[hawksrule]

Bottom line is they don't have a choice of what city/team they can play for.

Drafts should be illegal in a democracy. Plenty of people agree with me. Just google it.

Why is that your fight? If player unions don’t like it they can sue. You’re just bitter because a team you dislike got Bedard. Boo hoo.

 

[Panthaz89]

So, finishing last guarantees you the top pick?

And this WON’T encourage tanking? Come on. You’ll never see a more blatant tear down and shit effort from the NHL’s average clubs.

Current system is fine and the last results are proving it. The worst two teams that also tanked were not rewarded. While many think Chicago tanked the hardest, they finished ahead of the Ducks and Jackets.

Cool then punish the team with their blatantly obvious tanking by taking their pick away and remove trading for LTIR contracts where all they are doing is paying a guy to fill cap space. Its not hard to see if someone is tanking like Pittsburgh did for Lemieux otherwise don't see anything wrong with normal rebuilding moves.

 

[EddieTheEagle]

Cool then punish the team with their blatantly obvious tanking by taking their pick away and remove trading for LTIR contracts where all they are doing is paying a guy to fill cap space. Its not hard to see if someone is tanking like Pittsburgh did for Lemieux otherwise don't see anything wrong with normal rebuilding moves.

Let me know when you have a defined set of rules for establishing which teams are tanking to enforce your punishment. Looking forward to them.

 

[Panthaz89]

Rather easy nowadays considering all the tech you can clearly see when a team is purposely icing an AHL team and hiding their NHL players.

Let me know when you have a defined set of rules for establishing which teams are tanking to enforce your punishment. Looking forward to them.

 

[x Tame Impala]

You losers are still whining about this 19 pages later. The Ducks and Jackets were worse than us. The Hawks beat the Pens and Flyers to close out their season, had they lost they could’ve finished last in the league. Get over yourselves and learn to love Bedard in a Hawks sweater for the next 15 years. I know I will.

 

[Kurtosis]

So the idea is you can in fact not rebuild on purpose.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Rather easy nowadays considering all the tech you can clearly see when a team is purposely icing an AHL team and hiding their NHL players.

you mean like the Sabres did?

 

[Cas]

Bottom line is they don't have a choice of what city/team they can play for.

Drafts should be illegal in a democracy. Plenty of people agree with me. Just google it.

It's no different than having no choice but to live in a specific city if you want to work for a specific company or in a specific industry.

Bedard can even play hockey in many, many more places than Chicago, if he's willing to sign an AHL or ECHL contract or go overseas. He's just stuck if he wants to play in the NHL.