I don't understand it at all. Even if they really like the player and person, they guaranteed that this story would blow up and define him for years by making him their first round pick.
This seems like the worst way to do it for the victim (who watched a team apparently not give a crap about her), the player (who asked teams not to draft him while he goes through a process to rehabilitate his character), the franchise (which has shattered the illusion that they prioritize character or anything really over hockey ability), and the league (already reeling from the Blackhawks fiasco).
Really, remarkably bad judgement. There were no other players in that range that were close enough in talent to at least let this guy slide into Day 2 of the draft where it would be a way smaller story? Crazy to me.
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