According to a few reports, specifically an updated post from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, one of the big items to come out of Friday’s NHL general managers meeting was discussion about the NHL Lottery. And, from Friedman’s reports, the Detroit Red Wings are looking to get things changed and the odds adjusted.
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This year’s lottery fell the way of the New York Rangers. Not even close to one of the worst teams in the NHL this past season, they were awarded the No. 1 overall draft pick and the right to select Alexis Lafreniere at this year’s NHL Entry Draft. While not a personal attack on the Rangers, this has become an issue for many NHL GMs. The most bothered seem to be Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings who manages the worst team, far and away, in the NHL.
The Red Wings should have won the lottery based on their odds. They didn’t. That has led to a call for the odds to change.
Friedman writes:
A good chunk of the two-hour discussion was spent on the draft lottery. There are calls to change the format, to increase the odds for teams that finish lowest. While there’s a recognition this was a unique year and not the norm, Detroit was incredibly upset with dropping to fourth after a season where it was clear the Red Wings were not tanking.
This An Issue, But Is There a Solution?
The odds and the fact that a team who shouldn’t have been in the conversation, yet won the draft seems to be the issue. How does the NHL ensure teams don’t tank on purpose only to get the top pick, but also ensure teams like New York don’t have an opportunity to draft the best player? It’s not an easy dilemma to solve, but it’s an issue. The good news for Yzerman is that the Red Wings apparently had a lot of support from other GMs who felt the system needs improving.
As is, the NHL has asked for GMs to present ideas and solutions and changing the percentages seems to be the obvious fix. That said, more needs to be looked at before the NHL will go ahead and make changes.
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Rob
October 24, 2020 at 4:36 am
The odds made no sense. The % were way to low. The worst 5 teams together should not have had the same chance to get the top pick as all the other teams combined. It should be a very low % that a team 6th or better are able to get the top pick. Not 50% chance