It has the feeling of them carrying the water for the league. As in, look how good of a team Seattle will wind up with. Another Vegas!
I'd be really interested to see how much financial support the NHL throws The Athletic's way.
I think both teams Duhatschek and Burnside drafted didn't have good forwards so probably not. It's more that it's two years out and there's incredibly limited information, it's a very easy pick to make. EDIT-missed the next two but the same thing, they're not trying to gussy anything up.
If for some reason this was the roster that remained, it's also somewhat likely. Last draft there was a plausible way out that gave Murray some leverage, but this one we're gonna be left with multiple young guys exposed. Maybe theres still some room to make a deal but you've gotta lose someone. Might not mean much if some guys don't really pan out, but if guys do, there might be no deal that they should do.
The best hope IMO is that Henrique is a solid producer the next couple years and because of the lack of quality forwards(and especially centers) available you can tempt them into taking him.
