Quote:
Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist
That logic seems backwards to me. If I'm broke, I should gamble what money I have left because that not won't mean much in the long run....?
The only time you can gamble a top pick is of you're stacked. Even then, it seems silly
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan
...have you never heard of the expression, 'You don't gamble with scared money'. You don't have nothing to lose unless you don't have nothing.
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Lots of great posts on the last two pages, and I don't have much to add. However, I did want to respond to this rather popular notion of characterising the Jankowski pick like a poor or ill timed gamble.
Treating NHL draft picks like cash in a gambler's wallet is a really poor analogy. The "gambles" made at the draft are nothing like the gambles made at a craps table, especially considering the resources that factor into making picks at the draft. While we will tend to speak of teams with shallow prospect pools as "bankrupt", this is just a metaphor that does not very accurately communicate the reality of the situation. The reality in this case is that the success or failure of Mark Jankowski will not determine the sustainable future of the Calgary Flames. Unlike a gambler who is risking his last dollar, the Flames will be fine, even if Jankowski never plays a single NHL game. Because he is but ONE PIECE from dozens that are accumulated and traded on an annual basis, this individual draft choice is not nearly significant enough on its own to have that kind of impact. Replacing Jankowski with Maatta, Girgensons, or Hertl is almost certainly not going to affect the long term goal of the rebuild, and I think this is a better perspective of what we mean when we characterise this pick as a "gamble": the risk was minimal, the investment long, the outcome uncertain, but the potential is massive.
If you want to make a gambling analogy, a better one would be to equate the Jankowski pick to an expensive lottery ticket in the hands of a poor person who has a budget from which to purchase dozens of lottery tickets with every pay check. Better yet, the situation is more like an investment broker who spends his living tracking the markets, and who makes a sizeable purchase of a cheap stock based on his expert opinion that it will net an exceptional return.