Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I will say it appears at least on the surface that the new system has a flaw that actually encourages more teams to tank. The idea behind adding more chance for 2-14 to get the first overall pick was done to discourage teams from being Oilers bad finishing 30th in multiple seasons but from what I can see is that the 5-10 teams that would normally play out the string now can see that dropping a few spots greatly enhances their chance of picking 1st overall that was never an option in previous years. Has there ever been a season when there were so many teams have been sinking fast taking water like this season? Not a single team in the bottom 8 has won more than 4 of their last 10 games with one team at 0 wins, one at 1 win, one at 2 wins, and two at 3 wins. That's a lot of teams playing spectacularly bad at the same time.
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If teams are intentionally telling their players to tank and the players are doing it then that's a severe integrity issue and the NHL has to find a way to remove that temptation because to me that would be incredibly wrong.
I honestly don't think that teams should be allowed to draft top 5 two years in a row, there shouldn't be a continual massive rewarding for failure. I believe that if you draft top 5 two years in a row the next year the earliest you can draft would be 15th.
You can argue that the Flames tried to tank by trading established players for futures and draft picks, as that goes against what every GM should be striving for which is remaining competitive.
However I don't believe a GM or a coach ever tells a team to go out and take it easy and lose games on purpose.
The Edmonton Oilers have tanked due to complete managerial and ownership incompetence, a terrible coach and a team that just can't function in the NHL, but I have a hard time believing that the coach or the GM went to the players and said "Gas it for McKinnon"
On a personal note, if the Flames players ever agreed to take it easy and not play hard intentionally it would be the last time the franchise gets any of my money.