Friedman: The top 3 picks in the draft to be decided by lottery?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by UKflames

I actually think this has more to do with McDavid being in next years draft. The NHL don't want to see half of the teams going for the big drop in effort to try and secure that #1 pick.

Agreed. But the Avs showed last year that this isn't just a hypothetical concern, but a real problem. That tends to result in faster changes. And ones I agree with, especially if it can partially neuter the losing = winning crowd.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Can we at least make sure the lottery is done in the open, and not behind closed doors? I still think Pittsburgh getting Crosby was just a little too convenient.

It can't be, unless you want to take all suspense out of it, as the lottery means you must pick the 1st overall pick first, then 2nd overall, etc.

[Rubicant]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

It can't be, unless you want to take all suspense out of it, as the lottery means you must pick the 1st overall pick first, then 2nd overall, etc.

I'm willing to give up whatever suspense we currently have for a more open system.

I also think it would be more entertaining to see the top 3 picks read out than what we've seen on TSN the last couple of years.

[devo22]

good news! A necessary change for sure. Hell I'd even go farther and decide all 14 lottery picks that way. For TV and suspense reasons, flip the percentages and start with the 14th pick (so 14th team has a 25% chance to draft 14th) until there's one team standing to pick 1st. Call me crazy but that's what I'd actually want to see.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Ark2

Those fans want to see the Flames win the Stanley Cup one day, not just put in good efforts while failing to make the post season.

its still bad for sports when people are cheering for their team to lose

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

It can't be, unless you want to take all suspense out of it, as the lottery means you must pick the 1st overall pick first, then 2nd overall, etc.

If it means we wouldn't have to sit through a dragged-out hour-long special with commercials every 5 minutes, then sign me up!

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Table 5

If it means we wouldn't have to sit through a dragged-out hour-long special with commercials every 5 minutes, then sign me up!

That's exactly why it won't change.

I don't understand why people complain about it. Everyone knows that if the show is scheduled from 6-7, they won't actually get around to announcing anything until about 6:50. Go to Twitter, TSN.ca, or NHL.com at 6:55 and you'll find out the only thing you cared about without sitting through any of the interviews or analysis.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Ark2

Those fans want to see the Flames win the Stanley Cup one day, not just put in good efforts while failing to make the post season.

Well those fans clearly have no idea how to build a championship team

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I don't care how it happens, I want to see the Flames draft in the top 3 before this rebuild is done. We've NEVER drafted top 5, even. How much is it to ask that we take a top player during our own rebuild, when teams like Edmonton, Florida and New York get to stock up on them yearly? It's stupid, ridiculous. I'm part in favour, part against this idea, cause it could either help or hurt us, and I just want to see us get a pick that we deserve for not throwing our season (or any of our recent non-playoff years, where we still fought until the bitter end).

On the other hand, if this keeps the Oilers from sucking more top talents into their black hole of a system and team, then all the better.

We never drafted top 5, but have got top 5 players a few times by being smarter then everyone else: I am thinking of The Joe, The Dion and The Sean.

Hopefully Flames can just be smarter on a more regular basis.

[#-3]

I think I have heard something like this here before. But I like a system when all 14 picks are done by random, weighted draw. And if they insist on making a TV event out of it, they should get a large Bingo Hoper, fill it will 535 balls.

17th Overall gets 88 balls
18th - 80
19th - 72
20th - 64
21st - 56
22nd - 48
23rd - 40
24th - 32
25th - 24
26th - 16
27th - 8
28th - 4
29th - 2
30th - 1

First Ball pulled gets 14ths Overall, Second 13th........

At least it would build to a Climax.
And yes it would give the worst team in the league ~ a 0.2% chance of picking 14th overall

[Enoch Root]

Quote:
What we're looking at here is a system where the odds would be weighted by how positions 17 through 30 in the NHL standings finish over a five-year period relative to the final playoff qualifier. The exact formula is not yet determined

I am all for change and dis-incentizing tanking, but the idea of a 5-year weighting concerns me.

Not sure what they're getting at but if continued sucking (i.e. bad over a 5 year period) is the criteria, that benefits the garbage teams - Islanders, Florida, Edmonton - even more. That would essentially mean those three teams are picking top 3 until they finally make the playoffs and climb their way off the list.

I would be very much against a system like that. Sure, it deters the Colorado one-time-tank, but it really rewards prolonged failure (even more than now).

[ForeverFlameFan]

They should give it to a team that doesn't tank and hasn't ever had a top 5 pick in the history of the franchise.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Well those fans clearly have no idea how to build a championship team

Except in the cases of Chicago and Pittsburgh..

But I'd like to believe that all this work ethic and winning mentality will get us to the promised land more effectively than Edmonton's strategy.

[stemit14]

I like the idea or sure. Unfortunately, it will probably be implemented just in time to hurt to he flames draft chances and help the draft chances for the Canucks. The Canucks will likely be a lottery team next year and being new to the that position, it will give them an improved chance of winning it.

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Well those fans clearly have no idea how to build a championship team

To build a championship team, you need elite players. We currently have none. Trading for elite players is unlikely and signing elite players is all but impossible when we are mired in this state of mediocrity, which leaves drafting elite players as our best chance. We could get lucky and pick someone up later in the draft that, but I like our chances better with a top 3 pick or two over the next few years. I would say those fans aren't exactly off base when it comes to the basics of rebuilding.

[Erick Estrada]

I'm for it. I've been a part of the losing is winning crowd given the Flames current status of rebuild but it's not something I feel comfortable with and if anything being involved in the race for a top pick has showed me how some teams really do pull the plug on their seasons in hopes of improving their draft status which is just wrong. It's one thing to be a bottom dweller all season like the Flames who made no illusions about their rebuild but these teams that play well in the first half of the season and close to the deadline determine they won't make is and have a free fall in the standings disgust me.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by Ark2

Those fans want to see the Flames win the Stanley Cup one day, not just put in good efforts while failing to make the post season.

That is the default lame excuse of the pro tanking crowd. Its BS and I'm sick of it. Twenty-nine teams don't win the cup every year. Many teams have never won a cup. Real hockey fans want to see good hockey, which the Flames have delivered on this year in spades. If they give up and tank, it won't matter to me if they win a cup in 2018, because I'll have moved on to cheer for another team.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Ark2

To build a championship team, you need elite players. We currently have none. Trading for elite players is unlikely and signing elite players is all but impossible when we are mired in this state of mediocrity, which leaves drafting elite players as our best chance. We could get lucky and pick someone up later in the draft that, but I like our chances better with a top 3 pick or two over the next few years. I would say those fans aren't exactly off base when it comes to the basics of rebuilding.

Yes you need elite players - what you don't need is to tank.

Take a look at the distribution of lottery picks. The teams getting the vast majority of the lottery picks are NOT the teams that are regularly winning the cup.

Yes Chicago is good. That does NOT mean tanking to get a top pick will get you a cup. And keep in mind that Chicago dwelled at or near the basement for 14 years before their lottery picks led them to the promised land.

[Ark2]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

That is the default lame excuse of the pro tanking crowd. Its BS and I'm sick of it. Twenty-nine teams don't win the cup every year. Many teams have never won a cup. Real hockey fans want to see good hockey, which the Flames have delivered on this year in spades. If they give up and tank, it won't matter to me if they win a cup in 2018, because I'll have moved on to cheer for another team.

Real hockey fans know the difference between "good hockey" and being at the basement of the standings with a .449 winning percentage. It truly is sad that our expectations have fallen so low that the watching our players simply put forth an effort is regarded as a successful season. The Oilers have terrible management that keeps them from turning the corner. The Islanders and Panthers are cash strapped teams that refuse to fork out the dollars required to be competitive. That's why they suck. Not because they "tanked".

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Ark2

Real hockey fans know the difference between "good hockey" and being at the basement of the standings with a .449 winning percentage. It truly is sad that our expectations have fallen so low that the watching our players simply put forth an effort is regarded as a successful season. The Oilers have terrible management that keeps them from turning the corner. The Islanders and Panthers are cash strapped teams that refuse to fork out the dollars required to be competitive. That's why they suck. Not because they "tanked".

This is not what anyone is saying. Suggesting that fans are happy with an effort is a logical fallacy that does not support your argument