The problem is that the draft system, and the cap, were both created to service league parity. The leagues of the eras when these were independently created wanted to ensure that small market teams had just as much of a chance to win as the Leafs, Habs, Bruins etc. Changing the draft to more quickly reward teams who are on the cusp on playoffs destroys the draft's ability to lift bad teams out of the muck with transformational players, and likely solidifies the Buffalos, Edmontons and similar franchises as never contenders, which ultimately would lose the league a lot of revenue.
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