GDT: Detroit Red Wings @ New York Rangers 7:30PM Est

[WingedWheel1987]

The combination of things that would need to happen for that scenario to play out is so unlikely that it's not even worth thinking about.

An 80 million dollar roster full of mediocre talent is built to draft in the 6-9 range.

The Wings will bottom out when Zetterberg retires.

 

[Redder Winger]

An 80 million dollar roster full of mediocre talent is built to draft in the 6-9 range.

The Wings will bottom out when Zetterberg retires.

Yeah. That's probably true. Or if he becomes ineffective.

 

[Pavels Dog]

It’s much more likely than unlikely this year (again).

Well it's 20 games left and we have a tough schedule and not many points seperate the bottom 10.

And remember, last year we were 6th. This year we're currently 9th, and I'd say extremely unlikely to climb much higher (realistically we'll fall).
Saying "8th to 12th"is counting it as a real possibility that teams finishing higher than us in the standings will pass us via the lottery, but not counting on the chance that we jump up to the top 3 via the lottery. You can't really have it both ways. If we finish 9th last, the only way we draft 12th is if 3 teams finishing 10th-15th jump us. The chance of that happening is microscopic, and given that it pretty much happened last year (with an expansion team stealing the 3rd slot) the idea that it's going to keep happening is like counting on getting struck by lightning repeatedly.

If we keep finishing 6th-10th, realistically we'll draft between 6 and 10 with the odd year in the top 3 or falling to 11-12.

And realistically, we won't somehow magically always finish in the same position. Some variance is expected.