Suggested NHL Draft System: Honour for Connor

[cral12]

Time for the NHL to change the current NHL Draft system - from a Fail for Nail system to that of a Honour for Connor one - this is how it can be done:

Suggested NHL Draft System: Honour for Connor

Enough of the Bill Daly Lottery Show already.
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This system would have had a particulary interesting spin for the Flames had in been in place for the last 5 non-lockout years, as the article looks back.

Hindsight obviously 20/20 on this and things undoubtedly would have played out different had teams known that this alternative draft system was in place.

Here's just 2 of the examples mentioned in the article:
2013-14: From 4th overall to 2nd overall draft slot
Potential Flame: Sam Reinhart (instead of Sam Bennett)
2011-12: From 14th to 6th overall
Potential Flame: Hampus Lindholm (instead of trading down for Mark Jankowski)
*There are examples for 2 other draft years as well.

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Of course for Flames Faithful, it would have been great for previous years, but maybe not so great for where the organization is currently at.

Be sure to chime in and vote at the bottom of the post as well.

[nik-]

All these systems are complex for the sake of complexity. Just leave the old percentages in place (48%, 25% .. etc etc) and you can only draft twice in the top 3 in a 5 year period. Subsequent finishes that would have you in the top 3 gets you pushed to the 4th or 6th pick, depending on whether they want it top 5 or top 3 picks.

Changing the percentages is the wrong solution, the key is to get teams who sit there year after year out of those prime picks.

The "Playoff" for the first pick is absolutely contrary to the purpose of the draft. Detroit spends 20 years in the playoffs, slips one year but is just out, wins a generational talent ... yay?

[CalgaryFan1988]

The Oilers sure made a mess of the NHL draft. Never has there been so much talk of revamping the draft, year after year.

[Resolute 14]

In Summary

Appealing to owners and management

Doubt it.

Appealing to coaches and players

Doubt it. Certainly not to players that end up traded to a non-playoff team hoping to win the first overall pick. Nobody dreams of playing for the right to draft first overall.

Appealing to fans

Speaking only for myself, not in the slightest.

Motivation to win and the related excitement is greatly enhanced

Presupposes that teams are trying to lose deliberately. Even in the case of Edmonton, that is a false argument. And, again speaking for myself, not very exciting.

Parity is only slightly affected

A rather stupid thing to claim given the entire article makes big issue out of the value of parity. This idea's conclusion defeats its own stated purpose.

We all like to laugh at the Oilers for their historical ineptness, but the purpose of the draft is to put the top prospects into the hands of the teams that need them most so they can improve. This proposal aims to give the #1 pick to a team that is mediocre while screwing said worst team. The alternate suggestion of using this for the entire first round is flat out asinine. Bad proposal is bad.

[MarkGio]

The hockey writers misses one valuable element to hockey: viability. A team that bottoms out becomes in financial jeopardy almost immediately because hockey revenue is largely gate driven.

Parity and winning is nice, but having a 30-team league is important too. Having a quick turnover of rebuilds, less dynasties, and more frequent cycles between teams is probably a large factor in the draft.

Plus nobody feels bad for LA because they have to pick 30th, even though they should be (apparently) rewarded for their success.

[Split98]

Personally, I love it.

It would add complications to the casual user trying to figure out why Sportsnet has a 'Draft Standings' column in the middle of the hockey season, sure. Casual observers would get used to (and care about it) as much as they would get used to the other idea where a team can't draft top 3 5x. "Edmonton was last, why aren't they drafting until 6"?

I loved that last year we had an ENTIRE regular season to watch hockey because the Flames played until game 82. Encouraging the rest of the league to do the same would be glorious.

Lets say that they implement it this year. Now, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few teams put on a tank show to get below the 60 point mark and we have 8 teams in the draft playoff. That's an exciting final 20 games fighting for a franchise player.

We also have valuable players going to teams that encourage winning. If the show in Edmonton is any example, we need to stop wasting talent on teams that have embraced a culture of losing.

[PlayfulGenius]

These ideas make an assumption that draft position is something the players actually care about...I say this is false...they're most likely indifferent...but, if anything, they may actually be adverse to drafting high...

...I can see how players like Backlund, Stajan, even Monahan might not be too wild about the notion of drafting a player like McDavid.

Why not just keep the draft as it is...it seems to be working just fine.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

These ideas make an assumption that draft position is something the players actually care about...I say this is false...they're most likely indifferent...but, if anything, they may actually be adverse to drafting high...

...I can see how players like Backlund, Stajan, even Monahan might not be too wild about the notion of drafting a player like McDavid.

Why not just keep the draft as it is...it seems to be working just fine.

Personal opinion: I hate the way the draft is. The frustration of watching tank jobs plummet through the standings and the fear that we'll turn into a team that does the same ruins the whole thing for me.

If this isn't the solution, I encourage anything else that takes the celebration out of being the worst team on the ice.

We have Bennett, and I'm very happy with that. I'm even happier that I watched my team put through a full and entertaining effort throughout the season. We just didn't have the talent other teams did, and we are addressing that year by year. But not from throwing away games as the current draft encourages teams to do.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

The draft system is not the problem...

EDMONTON is the problem.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Split98

We also have valuable players going to teams that encourage winning. If the show in Edmonton is any example, we need to stop wasting talent on teams that have embraced a culture of losing.

I think the whole "Edmonton has a losing culture" thing is blown way out of proportion. Edmonton's problems run so much deeper. A terrible coach, zero organizational depth, bad-average goaltending, their top players are small and soft, they can't develop players and they have a bunch of ######s managing the team... do I need to go on?

[Split98]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

The draft system is not the problem...

EDMONTON is the problem.

Buffalo and Florida were putting on quite a show themselves last year.

So was Vancouver really... but I think they were just plain bad.

[PlayfulGenius]

I have still never seen any evidence of teams throwing games or losing on purpose...that's my perspective, I guess.

Other than the current system, the only other system that I see as fair is if there was a set rotation for the picks... So each team would pick 1st every 30 years.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by codynw

I think the whole "Edmonton has a losing culture" thing is blown way out of proportion. Edmonton's problems run so much deeper. A terrible coach, zero organizational depth, bad-average goaltending, their top players are small and soft, they can't develop players and they have a bunch of ######s managing the team... do I need to go on?

While I agree that their problems run deeper, I fully believe that Edmonton does have a losing culture.

When your GM actually believes that they are still paying for a residual effect of the success they had in the 80s and 90s (first off... HOW?!), then they aren't exactly stomping into the locker room to preach hard work and success. They're making excuses for all of the critical problems you mentioned.

A team that has a culture of winning is upset about each loss, and sees zero excuse why they can't win 82 games a season and sweep every series. The Oilers are not that. They see the positives of finishing in 30th, and make excuses for every single loss. That, is a culture of losing.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

I have still never seen any evidence of teams throwing games or losing on purpose...that's my perspective, I guess.

Other than the current system, the only other system that I see as fair is if there was a set rotation for the picks... So each team would pick 1st every 30 years.

Penguins tanked for Lemieux, that's been admitted by people who worked with the organization at the time. Lots of people think the Senators tanked for Daigle (lol, that worked out well), and after that one the league finally came up with a draft lottery.

Maybe it doesn't happen very often, but there's no way it's never happened.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

I have still never seen any evidence of teams throwing games or losing on purpose...that's my perspective, I guess.

Other than the current system, the only other system that I see as fair is if there was a set rotation for the picks... So each team would pick 1st every 30 years.

You do make a good point. I always make the assumption we are watching teams tank... and have never seen any solid evidence that a game has been thrown.

So, leaving purposeful tanking as a question mark this would also resolve the other explanation of poor teams finishing even more poorly: they stopped caring. I fully agree that the players themselves don't really give any care to where they are drafting, but management and coaches do. A team that would typically finish the season going through the motions for the last 20 games now fighting for a player to turn their franchise around puts a considerably different focus on the media and fan excitement. That does a lot for player motivations and game excitement. I'd love to see it.

[Makarov]

This is what passes for [NEWS] these days?

[Murph]

Some guy, somewhere suggested that draft order be determined based on number of points accumulated after a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. I like that a whole lot better than the system suggested here. The crappiest of the crappy teams would still have the best chance of drafting higher (and so they should) as they'd be eliminated earlier and have more games to get points.

[The Fonz]

I'm a fan of what the NHL has already begun to do. Level out the odds, increase the # of picks determined by lottery.

I don't think it needs to be any more complex than that.

[Stormchaser]

Originally Posted by Makarov

This is what passes for [NEWS] these days?

This is a BS post. We all wish everyday was trade dead line day but come on...its the middle of summer. I'm grateful for qualitly posters on this site and the effort shown in this thread. Its an interesting read if you click on the link the OP provided.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by PlayfulGenius

Other than the current system, the only other system that I see as fair is if there was a set rotation for the picks... So each team would pick 1st every 30 years.

This system is actually the complete opposite of everything a draft stands for, and it really serves only one purpose: to put more talent in the hands of big market, big spending teams at the expense of the teams the draft is meant to help.