Should the NHL adopt NBA style drafting?

[thestonedkoala]

Frankly I think the draft lottery this year was a Godsend for the sport. It built up more hype on a player dripping with hype (like LeBron) and a lot of people tuned in to simply watch the outcome of the draft.

I think the NHL should officially adopt the NBA style of drafting, though I know unfair for the team with the biggest losing streak but I think that having 14 teams (with the worst having the most balls and the best having less) would be awesome. Not just the top 3 teams, which we will probably know the outcome.

And then the rest of the playoff teams in one huge pile. I don't care if the SC winner gets the 15th pick overall, it's just the luck of the draw and they were lucky.

This would not only build up hype as we wait for the outcomes of prospects but I think that this would be a semi-big television event that could generate income as they start out slow like TSN and such and then try to expand.

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[salty justice]

I think they would be better off adopting a similar version to MLB's draft where picks are alternated based on conference, then have a lottery within each conference between the 7 non playoff teams.

 

[baldrick]

Let's improve the on-ice product before relying on gimmicks, a free-flowing,
hard hitting hockey game provides alot more excitement than baseball,
football and basketball. No thankyou to the lottery draft.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Frankly I think the draft lottery this year was a Godsend for the sport. It built up more hype on a player dripping with hype (like LeBron) and a lot of people tuned in to simply watch the outcome of the draft.

I think the NHL should officially adopt the NBA style of drafting, though I know unfair for the team with the biggest losing streak but I think that having 14 teams (with the worst having the most balls and the best having less) would be awesome. Not just the top 3 teams, which we will probably know the outcome.

And then the rest of the playoff teams in one huge pile. I don't care if the SC winner gets the 15th pick overall, it's just the luck of the draw and they were lucky.

This would not only build up hype as we wait for the outcomes of prospects but I think that this would be a semi-big television event that could generate income as they start out slow like TSN and such and then try to expand.

I'm all for a new draft system. The current one sucks and is now being overly abused. This is detrimental to hockey fans, including those who mistakingly believe they get the upper hand in such a system.

I'm all for helping the weaker teams, but there has to be solid incentives to compete at ALL TIME. No organisation should let up, ever.

Personally, I kind of like the idea of the 14 teams having a chance at the top pick. And also of doing just like this year, removing balls if you previously won the first overall. Gone would be the days where people try to collect first overalls like Dudley or the horrendous Nordiques at the expense of people paying their high priced tickets to watch crap games.

 

[PecaFan]

With the change in schedule, I think you *have to* have an expanded 14 team lottery each year now. Teams play 72 out of 82 games against their own conference. An eastern and a western team will have played almost no teams in common. Yet, you can look at them and say "Well, X in the east had 60 points, Y in the west had 59, obviously Y deserves the higher pick"?

Yes, an expanded lottery is great drama, but that's essentially irrelevant.

Vlad, you way overplay the tanking factor. It just doesn't happen, the only time was the Mario draft.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Vlad, you way overplay the tanking factor. It just doesn't happen, the only time was the Mario draft.

Today, organisations call it politely "building" or "rebuilding". It certainly happened in the Nordiques years. Then after Lindros there was enough suspicion surrounding Ottawa in the "Daigle race" for the league to take steps. This is why we have a draft lottery today, has nothing to do with Mario.

There's absolutely no way anyone with a straight face can tell me Dudley has spent a SINGLE season as a manager without aiming, straight forward, for the basement. That's all the guy does.

Maybe tanking rubs people the wrong way, or maybe it's not the appropriate term but it's a given that certain teams in this league, at the management level, are letting up, giving up and nonetheless charging high ticket prices so that some poor shmucks can finance a rebuild while watching a product that wasn't aimed to be the best product possible.

Maybe I'm overplaying it. But I doubt it. They came with the lottery system because this was a real, tangible concern. But the draft process is still not enough of an incentive to compete it seems. I say change it again.

All IMO, of course.

 

[BrettNYR]

There's absolutely no way anyone with a straight face can tell me Dudley has spent a SINGLE season as a manager without aiming, straight forward, for the basement. That's all the guy does.

What about when he was the General Manager of the Ottawa Senators for the 1998-99 season? The Senators finished with 103 points, an increase of 20 points from the previous season, and third best overall record that season. Not exactly aiming for the basement there...

 

[HockeyCritter]

Gimmicky drafting/lottery scenarios will do nothing to garner interest in the sport. Fix the on ice product, leave the draft the way it is. It’s a formula that works for the NHL.

 

[thestonedkoala]

The problem I see is teams like Chicago continually to be near the bottom (unless there is a miracle) because Wirtz doesn't like to spend a lot of money on his team.

To me, how fare is it now that Pittsburgh has Malkin, Fleury, Whitney, Welch? And they got some of them because they traded picks and didn't get penalized?

Seriously, the NHL draft system is whacked. Why do teams that do try to compete but get shafted in the end like the Sabres, the Kings get almost mid-round first round draft picks and teams that continually year after year get first rounders?

 

[HockeyCritter]

The problem I see is teams like Chicago continually to be near the bottom (unless there is a miracle) because Wirtz doesn't like to spend a lot of money on his team.

To me, how fare is it now that Pittsburgh has Malkin, Fleury, Whitney, Welch? And they got some of them because they traded picks and didn't get penalized?

Seriously, the NHL draft system is whacked. Why do teams that do try to compete but get shafted in the end like the Sabres, the Kings get almost mid-round first round draft picks and teams that continually year after year get first rounders?

Is not the purpose of the draft to help the worst teams improve by affording them the best opportunity to draft the top prospects?

Sports are cyclical by nature, you’re up and then you’re down.

The fact that << insert team name >> is chronically near the bottom of the standings has it’s own perils as well; no championship, waning interest in the team, lack of sponsorship. Those perils need to be measured against “winning†a lottery draft ---- I’m sure more teams than not would be willing to forgo a high, impact draft spot in favor of a legitimate chance at winning a championship.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Then why does basketball work? And baseball?

If a team continues to do terrible for more than a couple years, I question them...

 

[ZombieMatt]

I'd like to see a weighted lottery where all 14 non-playoff teams have a chance at each pick. Give the top team 15% of the balls, 2nd 10% (just random numbers) all the way down to 0.5% for #14. That way you still give an advantage to weaker teams, but it is FAR from a sure thing.

 

[King'sPawn]

Is not the purpose of the draft to help the worst teams improve by affording them the best opportunity to draft the top prospects?

Sports are cyclical by nature, you’re up and then you’re down.

The fact that << insert team name >> is chronically near the bottom of the standings has it’s own perils as well; no championship, waning interest in the team, lack of sponsorship. Those perils need to be measured against “winning†a lottery draft ---- I’m sure more teams than not would be willing to forgo a high, impact draft spot in favor of a legitimate chance at winning a championship.

Nobody's saying to take away the best opportunity to draft the best prospects... however, what's wrong with taking away a little bit of their opportunity and spreading it out to other non-playoff teams?

Part of the problem with this rebuilding process is, as Vlad said, teams throw away their best players and don't ice the best team they could. The WORST the worst team could do on any given draft year is 2nd overall, under the current system.

There's nothing wrong with given them the best chance at first overall... but to guarantee at least a 2nd overall pick doesn't seem like the fans who put down good money are getting the best team they are entitled to.

Maybe it's just the bitter Kings fan in me... where the team legitimately tried to make the playoffs the past couple years but didn't because of injuries... yet still has had to pick out of the top ten for three years straight.

 

[kruezer]

I'd like to see a weighted lottery where all 14 non-playoff teams have a chance at each pick. Give the top team 15% of the balls, 2nd 10% (just random numbers) all the way down to 0.5% for #14. That way you still give an advantage to weaker teams, but it is FAR from a sure thing.

I agree, I think that would be much better, to just have a nicely weighted lottery for the bottom 14 teams, especially with the unbalanced schedule.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Maybe it's just the bitter Kings fan in me... where the team legitimately tried to make the playoffs the past couple years but didn't because of injuries... yet still has had to pick out of the top ten for three years straight.

I understand because I have the Kings in mind, as well as Minny, as far as teams that get shafted in the current system because they respect their fanbase and what this game is about.

I also understand what other people are saying, that we need to help the weak teams. But we have to find ways for these teams to compete. The 14-team lottery is an idea.

I am also thinking of mechanisms similar to this year but permanent, where you can't "win" several years in a row. What if a team that won first overall, for instance, couldn't win a top 3 pick the next year? Stuff like that might help.

If you get a high pick, you should be bumped down a little the following year. You get your Ovechkin, Malkin, Zherdev, etc. now it's time for someone else. If you can't man up and ice a competitive squad, tough **** because you're not getting more help again.

This would be a real incentive for management not to let up. At least not too long. There's always going to be a worse team. It's a league. But as long as they honestly compete, I have no problem helping them. This current system, frankly, doesn't accomplish that anymore.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Gimmicky drafting/lottery scenarios will do nothing to garner interest in the sport. Fix the on ice product, leave the draft the way it is. It’s a formula that works for the NHL.

That's ironic, considering changing the draft WILL help the on-ice product in many cases.

Unless you actually think watching a team full of Joel Bouchards and other journeymen is super-exciting or something...

 

[Montrealer]

Let's improve the on-ice product before relying on gimmicks, a free-flowing,
hard hitting hockey game provides alot more excitement than baseball,
football and basketball. No thankyou to the lottery draft.

Do you guys have a template on this board?

[Template]Let's improve the on-ice product before relying on gimmicks, a free-flowing,
hard hitting hockey game provides a lot more excitement than baseball,
football and basketball. No thank you to the [INSERT CONCEPT HERE]. [/Template]

 

[Tap on the Ankle]

I like the 14 team weighted lottery idea, with the playoff teams in their own weighted lottery for the last 16 spots.

And for those of you who think they should improve the on-ice product, well, they ARE. Trying to, at least. What's the big deal with improving more than one facet of the game at a time?

 

[King'sPawn]

I am also thinking of mechanisms similar to this year but permanent, where you can't "win" several years in a row. What if a team that won first overall, for instance, couldn't win a top 3 pick the next year? Stuff like that might help.

If you get a high pick, you should be bumped down a little the following year. You get your Ovechkin, Malkin, Zherdev, etc. now it's time for someone else. If you can't man up and ice a competitive squad, tough **** because you're not getting more help again.

This would be a real incentive for management not to let up. At least not too long. There's always going to be a worse team. It's a league. But as long as they honestly compete, I have no problem helping them. This current system, frankly, doesn't accomplish that anymore.

It could work. However, at the moment I'm honestly just more eager to stop guaranteeing at worst 2nd overall pick for the worst team in the league. If they get their act together, try to ice a decent team, but can only be the 17th best team in the league... is it fair to penalize them for getting lucky? Especially if the General Manager in one regime got fired and the new one genuinely tried?

I think that just saying the worst team in the league has a chance (albeit slim) of landing the 14th overall should be enough incentive of trying to ice a better team. Actually, just saying they're not guaranteed a high pick should be enough incentive.

Also, if you take away the chance at all of getting a high pick, a team who won the lottery would then panic spend, knowing they won't get a high pick. Then you get a chance of the New York Ranger effect of spending as much as you can on getting big names, but not icing a quality team. That's not helpful to the league or fair to the fans either.

But I do agree that the current system is not working, is not supportive of icing the best team possible, and can be abused.

BTW, thanks for the feedback to my PM, even though you didn't respond in PM format

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

BTW, thanks for the feedback to my PM, even though you didn't respond in PM format

I was going to link you to this thread but saw you here

But if there's anything you wanna talk about privately, you can shoot me a PM anytime!

 

[me2]

I was going to link you to this thread but saw you here

But if there's anything you wanna talk about privately, you can shoot me a PM anytime!

I'm in favour of that. I've liked the idea of

1. 4-5 lotteries per draft (max move up of 8 spots). Makes it harder to tank for 1st but the worst you can do it move down 4 spots.

2. 14 team lottery. Just like we have had. Completely redraw every teams positions based on balls in barrell.
* 3 balls for worst 1-5 teams, 2 balls 6-10, 1 ball for 11-14
OR
* 2 balls for #1-7, 1 ball for #8-14.

The worst teams still get a small amount of help via the extra balls. However this really makes tanking dangerous and fairly pointless, you could finish dead last and draw 14th. There is no advantage finishing last or 5th last, (or even 7th last under the 2-1 scheme).

 

[me2]

I like the 14 team weighted lottery idea, with the playoff teams in their own weighted lottery for the last 16 spots.

And for those of you who think they should improve the on-ice product, well, they ARE. Trying to, at least. What's the big deal with improving more than one facet of the game at a time?

Exactly. Fix two or three things. Fix'm all if they can.