The NHL’s board of governors has officially voted to approve the changes to the draft lottery that were proposed earlier this month, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Three major changes will be implemented:
- The number of picks determined by lottery draws will drop from three to two starting in 2021.
- A team winning the lottery can only move up a maximum of ten spots starting in 2022.
- A team can only win a draft lottery twice in a five-year period starting in 2022.
Past wins will not be included once the five-year period is implemented. Because of the first rule, a situation like last year can no longer occur, when the Detroit Red Wings, clearly the last-place team in the NHL, were knocked to fourth overall. Teams can now only drop a maximum of two spots, meaning the worst team in the league is guaranteed a top-three pick. The second change also means fewer teams are in contention for the first-overall selection.
It will be interesting to see the effect of the first change this year, given there is no clear consensus at the top of the draft rankings. The Buffalo Sabres look like a lock to finish at the bottom of the standings after losing their 14th in a row last night, meaning they will get a top-three pick. The question becomes whether who they have at the top of their board is the same as the other bottom-feeding teams who will have a good chance at one of those top-two spots.
When the lottery changes were first reported, we polled the PHR community to see if they believed there should be a lottery at all. Nearly 45% of voters believe it should be solely based on standings.
That is much better
Point number two is still BS wrong by the NHL. No 11th-worst team deserves the #1 pick. Point number one should be changed to one spot, but this so-called compromise is slightly better than nothing. People keep losing sight that the NHL Draft Lottery doesn’t really pump up ratings, the actual Draft does. A screwed-up Draft Lottery just angers the fan base.
Well said,Mac.I totally agree with you.
@met man – Kind of lonely on this little island of ours, eh? Not many are totally on board with us. Still, more ideas aren’t (usually) a bad thing…
I find watching the faces of execs whose tanking just went for nought quite entertaining.
The entire point of the draft is to keep the overall quality of the product (NHL hockey) high by aiding weaker teams.
Rewarding teams that intentionally field bad (boring) teams in order to lose decreases the overall quality of the product.
I want to see fewer teams as bad as the 2019-20 or 2021 Wings, not more.
I agree. I would be doing the exact opposite of their goal. Everyone who misses the playoffs should get 1 lottery ball to start the draft order. Once all non-playoff teams are set, then go in order the rest of the way up to the cup winner in the final spot.
I think baseball is even more in need of this system. There are about 6 teams in the MLB that should feel embarrassed about their product. Team tank should never be a thing.
@forwhomjoshbelltolled – Their tanking not only will increase their chances of getting/keeping the league’s subsidies (revenue sharing), but some of them probably can’t wait to draft the next Patrik Stefan to keep them in the cellar. No league is perfect, but most of us here would like to see “ours” as closest to that ideal, right?