Oilers win Draft Lottery

[Robb_K]

Oilers win Draft Lottery yet again! Will they finally start on the road back to respectability???

[Misc. Blues]

How long will it be until McDavid gets traded?

[dmiles2186]

If I'm McDavid, I'm calling my agent right away, "I'd like the Lindros package please."

[WaukeeBlues]

If I'm McDavid, I'm calling my agent right away, "I'd like the Lindros package please."

No joke. What a dumpster fire of an organization. They're one of the few I didn't want winning the lottery.

I had REALLY hoped an American market would win the top pick. Very bummed to hear that Edmonton won it. Four 1st overall picks in 6 years? That's borderline bulls**t.

Well, whatever... they needed another center and they have one now, and another center Draisatl in the wings. They just need to steady the ship at Defense and Goaltender and they're set. Luckily for MacTavish maybe some players will want to come to Edmonton now via free agency.

I'd still trade Yakupov.

[theohall]

If I'm McDavid, I'm calling my agent right away, "I'd like the Lindros package please."

No joke. What a dumpster fire of an organization. They're one of the few I didn't want winning the lottery.

I had REALLY hoped an American market would win the top pick. Very bummed to hear that Edmonton won it. Four 1st overall picks in 6 years? That's borderline bulls**t.

Well, whatever... they needed another center and they have one now, and another center Draisatl in the wings. They just need to steady the ship at Defense and Goaltender and they're set. Luckily for MacTavish maybe some players will want to come to Edmonton now via free agency.

I'd still trade Yakupov.

Drafting yet another forward is not going to solve their major problem. Zero depth on defense. They've been drafting forwards over and over and over while continuing to do nothing about D. Not gonna change this year.

[Kerfuffle]

All these draft picks make me concerned that they could become a dynasty with a few tweaks. On the other hand, if all these #1 picks end up being total studs, there's no way they can keep them all under the cap. I thought I had read somewhere that McDavid said he wouldn't sign with Edmonton.

[WaukeeBlues]

If I'm McDavid, I'm calling my agent right away, "I'd like the Lindros package please."

No joke. What a dumpster fire of an organization. They're one of the few I didn't want winning the lottery.

I had REALLY hoped an American market would win the top pick. Very bummed to hear that Edmonton won it. Four 1st overall picks in 6 years? That's borderline bulls**t.

Well, whatever... they needed another center and they have one now, and another center Draisatl in the wings. They just need to steady the ship at Defense and Goaltender and they're set. Luckily for MacTavish maybe some players will want to come to Edmonton now via free agency.

I'd still trade Yakupov.

Drafting yet another forward is not going to solve their major problem. Zero depth on defense. They've been drafting forwards over and over and over while continuing to do nothing about D. Not gonna change this year.

They needed depth at center too. Nugent-Hopkins was basically all they had. You don't win the lottery this year and select a defenseman though, I'm sorry

They started to address the defense issue last summer by signing Nikitin and Fayne. Not earth shattering moves but still that's two more defensemen with NHL experience than they had before. They're going to have to sign another 2-3 defensemen on July 1, especially after trading Petry. Hopefully for them they'll have guys wanting to sign there. They've been rushing their defensive prospects too as badly as their forwards and they have to stop doing that. Luckily for them it looks like they're taking their time on Darnell Nurse which they should.

All these draft picks make me concerned that they could become a dynasty with a few tweaks. On the other hand, if all these #1 picks end up being total studs, there's no way they can keep them all under the cap. I thought I had read somewhere that McDavid said he wouldn't sign with Edmonton.

Actually the quotes I've been seeing from McDavid seem to sound like he's happy. Who really knows what's going on in his head or if he's just saying the right things with the cameras on but he doesn't sound stand-offish or quiet about it...

McDavid and Top Prospects react to the NHL lottery

How awesome would it be to be an 18 year old prodigy and get picked by Arizona? Amazing weather, a team that has stockpiled young talent... I would've been so happy. Instead I get freakin Edmonton...

[Robb_K]

[quote="WaukeeBlues"][quote="WaukeeBlues"][quote="dmiles2186"]

No joke. What a dumpster fire of an organization. They're one of the few I didn't want winning the lottery.

I had REALLY hoped an American market would win the top pick. Very bummed to hear that Edmonton won it. Four 1st overall picks in 6 years? That's borderline bulls**t.

Well, whatever... they needed another center and they have one now, and another center Draisatl in the wings. They just need to steady the ship at Defense and Goaltender and they're set. Luckily for MacTavish maybe some players will want to come to Edmonton now via free agency.

I'd still trade Yakupov.[/quote] Drafting yet another forward is not going to solve their major problem. Zero depth on defense. They've been drafting forwards over and over and over while continuing to do nothing about D. Not gonna change this year.[/quote]

They needed depth at center too. Nugent-Hopkins was basically all they had. You don't win the lottery this year and select a defenseman though, I'm sorry

They started to address the defense issue last summer by signing Nikitin and Fayne. Not earth shattering moves but still that's two more defensemen with NHL experience than they had before. They're going to have to sign another 2-3 defensemen on July 1, especially after trading Petry. Hopefully for them they'll have guys wanting to sign there. They've been rushing their defensive prospects too as badly as their forwards and they have to stop doing that. Luckily for them it looks like they're taking their time on Darnell Nurse which they should.

[quote="Kerfuffle"]All these draft picks make me concerned that they could become a dynasty with a few tweaks. On the other hand, if all these #1 picks end up being total studs, there's no way they can keep them all under the cap. I thought I had read somewhere that McDavid said he wouldn't sign with Edmonton.[/quote]

Actually the quotes I've been seeing from McDavid seem to sound like he's happy. Who really knows what's going on in his head or if he's just saying the right things with the cameras on but he doesn't sound stand-offish or quiet about it...

[url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=764045]McDavid and Top Prospects react to the NHL lottery[/url]

How awesome would it be to be an 18 year old prodigy and get picked by Arizona? Amazing weather, a team that has stockpiled young talent... I would've been so happy. Instead I get freakin Edmonton...[/quote]

McDavid looked unhappy, but, he had said the PC things, just to not look like apositive person, and not a heel to The Edmonton fans and team.

[glen a richter]

What would it take to get the pick from Edmonton? Bouwmeester to start (addressing their D issue) and maybe one of the D prospects (Schmaltz?). Obviously some forwards as well: Rattie, Berglund and a junior prospect. And also a future pick or two. They'd probably also ask for some goaltending. Elliott?

[Winning Unlimited]

Someone should do something about this.

[Winning Unlimited]

I have been discussing Mathematical Elimination Draft Orders every year here for 7 damn years.

[cprice12]

I have been discussing Mathematical Elimination Draft Orders every year here for 7 damn years.

Puck Daddy disagrees with you.

Why I love tanking and hate Adam Gold’s solution for it
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck- ... 45599.html

Forgetting for a moment that tanking isn’t a problem and that Sabres fans cheering against their team was gleefully subversive, here are several problems with the Gold Plan:

1. The Players Don’t Care

They just don’t. Management tanks; players play. The idea that they would somehow play harder with a top draft pick carrot dangled in front of them defies logic. Is there any reason why a pending unrestricted free agent that isn’t re-signing in that hellhole of a franchise would care if the team wins or loses after they’ve been eliminated from the playoff picture? Of course not.

But what about management? Surely this plan would encourage management to improve the team …

2. Bad Teams Are Bad

… oh, right. There’s a reason they’ve been eliminated from the postseason with 30 games left. They’re terrible.

The idea that management would somehow keep the team moderately competitive to gear up for a post-elimination run or even improve the roster with that in mind also defies logic, because bad teams are bad teams and aren’t going to become competent teams just because the top pick is at stake. Which, again, completely ignores why we have the draft, which is to benefit the worst teams in the league. Who now have to be one of the better teams in the league, after their players have stopped caring, in order to ultimately improve themselves. Which is completely plausible.

3. Trade Deadline

Under the Gold Plan, the Toronto Maple Leafs likely saw themselves as vying for the draft lottery around the trade deadline. How many moves do they make if they know they have to amass points after their elimination? Do they make the Cody Franson trade if keeping him on the roster means a better chance at Connor McDavid?

The trade deadline is already an epic snooze; incentivizing bad teams not to unload their talent would further jam up the gears.

4. Strength of Schedule

A variable, to be sure, but if the goal is win games post-elimination and one team has a significantly harder docket than another – let’s say, for example, a more parity-filled division – then once again, you’re asking a bad team to do something it already proved it was unable to do for two-thirds of the season to earn its help.

5. Eliminates The Showcasing of Young Players

As the season goes on, teams traditionally give younger players longer looks. Veteran, soon to be shipped out guys have reduced ice time; inexperience players take on more responsibility so management sees what they have.

But wouldn’t teams push out their veteran lineups each night if points were that valuable to winning the top pick? The practice of the rookie showcase would be done.

6. Tanking Teams Still Get Top Picks

Looking at the example above, the worst teams still get the top picks and you're just creating an almost-completely-random lottery for picks 4-10.

Which means ...

7. Teams Will Still Tank

They'll just tank more dramatically and earlier, attempting to assure themselves of enough runway where even the dregs of the league can amass enough chairty points to beat out the other losers.

But perhaps most of all …

8. TANKING IS NOT A PROBLEM

The hand-wringing over something that’s happened at most six times since GHOSTBUSTERS debuted in theaters is nonsensical. And we’re rarely going to see it be this bad again because (a) we’re talking two franchise players at the top rather than one and (b) the NHL is going to really, really discourage tanking beginning in 2016:

Beginning in 2016, the Draft Lottery will be utilized to assign the top three drafting slots in the NHL Draft, an expansion over previous years when the Draft Lottery was used to determine the winner of the first overall selection only.

Three draws will be held: the 1st Lottery draw will determine the Club selecting first overall, the 2nd Lottery draw will determine the Club selecting second overall and the 3rd Lottery draw will determine the club selecting third overall.

As a result of this change, the team earning the fewest points during the regular season will no longer be guaranteed, at worst, the second overall pick. That club could fall as low as fourth overall.

The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery draw will be the same as outlined above for the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery. The odds for the remaining teams will increase on a proportionate basis for the 2nd Lottery draw, based on which Club wins the 1st Lottery draw, and again for the 3rd Lottery draw, based on which Club wins the 2nd Lottery draw.

The 11 Clubs not selected in the Draft Lottery will be assigned NHL Draft selections 4 through 14, in inverse order of regular-season points.

Again, you’d expect the real outrage would be the continuing chances that a team that missed the playoff by a point would have even a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the lottery, but we’ll guess the Gold Plan acolytes are totally down with the idea that those who try hardest and fail are more worthy of assistance than those that are just failures.

To that end: Can’t wait for Connor McDavid to play center for the Kings next season …

Discuss...

[cardsfan04]

What would it take to get the pick from Edmonton? Bouwmeester to start (addressing their D issue) and maybe one of the D prospects (Schmaltz?). Obviously some forwards as well: Rattie, Berglund and a junior prospect. And also a future pick or two. They'd probably also ask for some goaltending. Elliott?

If it's even available (which it might not be), they'd want Tarasenko.

[dmiles2186]

What would it take to get the pick from Edmonton? Bouwmeester to start (addressing their D issue) and maybe one of the D prospects (Schmaltz?). Obviously some forwards as well: Rattie, Berglund and a junior prospect. And also a future pick or two. They'd probably also ask for some goaltending. Elliott?

If it's even available (which it might not be), they'd want Tarasenko.

Bingo. I doubt this #1 overall will be available, because it will be hard to sell a fan base on giving up "the next Sydney Crosby." But, since it's the Oilers and anything is possible with them, they'd want a franchise player in return and Bouwmeester, Rattie, Berglund, nor Elliott qualifies for that.

[Kerfuffle]

What would it take to get the pick from Edmonton? Bouwmeester to start (addressing their D issue) and maybe one of the D prospects (Schmaltz?). Obviously some forwards as well: Rattie, Berglund and a junior prospect. And also a future pick or two. They'd probably also ask for some goaltending. Elliott?

If it's even available (which it might not be), they'd want Tarasenko.

Stop dreaming you guys - the Blues are not getting McDavid. McTavish is already on record saying he will not be trading the pick.

[glen a richter]

What would it take to get the pick from Edmonton? Bouwmeester to start (addressing their D issue) and maybe one of the D prospects (Schmaltz?). Obviously some forwards as well: Rattie, Berglund and a junior prospect. And also a future pick or two. They'd probably also ask for some goaltending. Elliott?

If it's even available (which it might not be), they'd want Tarasenko.

Bingo. I doubt this #1 overall will be available, because it will be hard to sell a fan base on giving up "the next Sydney Crosby." But, since it's the Oilers and anything is possible with them, they'd want a franchise player in return and Bouwmeester, Rattie, Berglund, nor Elliott qualifies for that.

Of course we won't get him. I'm just dreaming here, but honestly Edmonton is grossly mismanaged and they'll have to get rid of some of the other guys in the organization to keep McDavid. Hall, Eberle, RNH could all be had in a deal at or after the draft.

[STLADOGG]

I think the oilers would be more interested(at least they should be) in Shatty or Petro

[glen a richter]

The whole top of the draft is pretty solid. I mean honestly, we probably couldn't go wrong trading into the 3-5 slots either. And those picks would come cheaper than 1-2 for sure. I can see the Islanders trading up to draft Strome so he can play with his brother. That pick will generate some interest, but whether Arizona or Toronto would listen is another issue.

[abc789987]

OT but does Robb_K's posts when he quotes things looks screwed up to anyone else?

It seems to be only happening to him for me... Everyone else's posts look fine. And if I post the exact same thing as in his window it shows up fine for me...

I've cleared my cookies etc. Screwed up on work computer, IE, and chrome, and on home computer...

[dmiles2186]

OT but does Robb_K's posts when he quotes things looks screwed up to anyone else?

It seems to be only happening to him for me... Everyone else's posts look fine. And if I post the exact same thing as in his window it shows up fine for me...

I've cleared my cookies etc. Screwed up on work computer, IE, and chrome, and on home computer...

Yeah, his show up like that on mine too.