A few separate points;
1) I don't think the league will be hurt in anyway if the team becoming a contender by drafting a Toews, Crosby or Ovechkin will at times be the 26th place team instead of the 30th place team.
I'll actually be surprised if there is going to be any statistical difference in how easily teams climb out of the cellar under the new system. After all, the number one pick will still mostly go to a pretty bad team.
2) For me personally, just the fact that I can pretty much stop thinking about our place in the standings and focus on cheering my team easily trumps any argument presented so far. I hated cheering for a better draft spot, even when other people were doing it. I also hated the arguments around it. This was more detrimental to my enjoyment of the game than anything else these last couple of seasons.
3) Somebody linked a study somewhere on this site, that suggested that in the NBA teams are more likely to get better by incremental improvements rather than drafting really high. Assuming that's correct, it would make sense that this would be even more so in the NHL, where a single superstar player generally has less impact on the game. Which would suggest that the previous system which essentially encouraged bad teams to draft high might have been somewhat counter-productive. (If someone remembers that article, please link it again?)
4) I hate how the most exciting rookies have been going to teams that suck. It takes all the excitement away from getting new hot players into the league, when you know they're probably not going to go anywhere for years. Watching a great rookie like Mackinnon work his magic in the playoffs has been a WAY too rare a treat.
For me personally, I think the most exciting scenario is when a great rookie comes in to help push a team a couple of spots and into the playoffs. Sign me up for a bit more of that.
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