[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, I think the timing of when they happened was everything. When Sam Pollack pulled those deals, he had 6 expansion teams to pick on who were trying to build a roster as getback mentions. Plus those expansion teams started out in the same Division so every expansion team had a decent shot at getting to the Stanley Cup at the beginning.

Today in a 30 team league, where entire rosters have completely turned over since the last expansion...all teams have a more equitable asset base.

Plus every GM knows the risk associated with trading a first round pick for next year now. If you miss the playoffs the odds of that pick being a top 3 is higher than ever. As much as some teams do need to win now...they also know how important it is to not trade those future first round picks because of how much risk those assets carry in appreciating.

If anything I think these new lottery rules will make teams much more gun shy, or at least insist that the pick be conditional and lottery protected.