Teams that intentionally tank to get high draft picks are pathetic. If that truly is the goal of a franchise they will never be successful because they do not breed a winning culture. I fully realize injuries and other circumstances happen where teams finish last, but a team should never strive to finish in the basement. What does that say to the organizations players and fans, we think you suck and we want you to lose?
While the Flames have some fundamental problems, they have been rebuilding on the fly and getting younger. We have Baertschi, Gaudreau, Reinhart, and Brodie (hopefully Jankowski to) who all look to be promising. The management has said that losing purposely is not an option and their goal is to win now and get younger. The Flames could desperately use someone like MacKinnon, and while there's not a 100% right answer to the OP, I think Calgary is just as deserving as anyone.
Teams that intentionally tank to get high draft picks are pathetic. If that truly is the goal of a franchise they will never be successful because they do not breed a winning culture. I fully realize injuries and other circumstances happen where teams finish last, but a team should never strive to finish in the basement. What does that say to the organizations players and fans, we think you suck and we want you to lose?
While the Flames have some fundamental problems, they have been rebuilding on the fly and getting younger. We have Baertschi, Gaudreau, Reinhart, and Brodie (hopefully Jankowski to) who all look to be promising. The management has said that losing purposely is not an option and their goal is to win now and get younger. The Flames could desperately use someone like MacKinnon, and while there's not a 100% right answer to the OP, I think Calgary is just as deserving as anyone.
Good thing a team intentionally tanking has happened maybe once or twice in the league's history (and it's only over the final few games).
A lot of people on here evidently don't follow the league very much. They look at the overall stats and the standings, then come up with ridiculous conclusions. If you were following the Oilers, you'd realize they were trying to be competitive. Pronger, Vanek, Heatley, Hossa, Penner, etc...
If it weren't for Kiprusoff, Calgary would be doing just as poorly. Based on recent transactions and the Janikowski pick, I think Calgary's management just being terrible is more likely than Calgary actually having a feasible plan to restock on the fly.
Calgary is ranked last in the entire league by betting sites for cup odds AND has one of the worst prospect pools in the league. You're where the Oilers were a few years ago. I have a feeling you'll be changing your tone on draft picks quite soon.
Teams that intentionally tank to get high draft picks are pathetic. If that truly is the goal of a franchise they will never be successful because they do not breed a winning culture. I fully realize injuries and other circumstances happen where teams finish last, but a team should never strive to finish in the basement. What does that say to the organizations players and fans, we think you suck and we want you to lose?
While the Flames have some fundamental problems, they have been rebuilding on the fly and getting younger. We have Baertschi, Gaudreau, Reinhart, and Brodie (hopefully Jankowski to) who all look to be promising. The management has said that losing purposely is not an option and their goal is to win now and get younger. The Flames could desperately use someone like MacKinnon, and while there's not a 100% right answer to the OP, I think Calgary is just as deserving as anyone.
HF does love this misconception. Much was we all rag on Edmonton. No team tanks intentionally, unless it is near hopeless. And even then I doubt it. Players have an enormous amount of pride and will give their all regardless of whether losing would be more beneficial. Look no farther than Toronto to see how a losing culture damages a franchise. Not one player on that roster wants or intends to lose.
Personally, I would like to see team success rewarded in lieu of whoever is worst getting another perk. Yes, it favors Vancouver but teams such as them, Detroit and etc rarely have the opportunity of picking high. Nice change of pace for once.
Teams that intentionally tank to get high draft picks are pathetic. If that truly is the goal of a franchise they will never be successful because they do not breed a winning culture. I fully realize injuries and other circumstances happen where teams finish last, but a team should never strive to finish in the basement. What does that say to the organizations players and fans, we think you suck and we want you to lose?
While the Flames have some fundamental problems, they have been rebuilding on the fly and getting younger. We have Baertschi, Gaudreau, Reinhart, and Brodie (hopefully Jankowski to) who all look to be promising. The management has said that losing purposely is not an option and their goal is to win now and get younger. The Flames could desperately use someone like MacKinnon, and while there's not a 100% right answer to the OP, I think Calgary is just as deserving as anyone.
I can only think of two times where a team intentionally tanked. The Penguins in the 80s to get Lemieux, and the Caps blowing up their team so they could land Ovechkin. The Oilers after the lockout were basically in the same exact situation as the Flames are right now, they brought in UFA's to try to compete, but ended up failing miserably. It'll be funny in a few years when the Flames are a bottom 5 team too.
HF does love this misconception. Much was we all rag on Edmonton. No team tanks intentionally, unless it is near hopeless. And even then I doubt it. Players have an enormous amount of pride and will give their all regardless of whether losing would be more beneficial. Look no farther than Toronto to see how a losing culture damages a franchise. Not one player on that roster wants or intends to lose.
Personally, I would like to see team success rewarded in lieu of whoever is worst getting another perk. Yes, it favors Vancouver but teams such as them, Detroit and etc rarely have the opportunity of picking high. Nice change of pace for once.
I think that defeats the purpose of the draft.
The last thing the NHL needs to do is give great teams the best players in the draft. They already have a great opportunity to pick top 10 if the draft is similar to 2005, even if it is a little less than the crappier teams.
Though yes, I suppose if you're talking about rewarding the good franchises, in essence they "deserve" it more than a lot of teams. But I think deserve is the wrong word choice. It should be based on need.
Im throwing out a Homer response ... Detroit hasn't had a 1st overall since god knows when. (Yzerman was 3rd overall). Lids is gone, Pavels probably going home in 2014-15, and weve been making do with 20-25+'s for 2 decades now. Throw a dog a bone.
If the season is a total wash the lotto should be completely random - everyone deserves a shot.
I can only think of two times where a team intentionally tanked. The Penguins in the 80s to get Lemieux, and the Caps blowing up their team so they could land Ovechkin. The Oilers after the lockout were basically in the same exact situation as the Flames are right now, they brought in UFA's to try to compete, but ended up failing miserably. It'll be funny in a few years when the Flames are a bottom 5 team too.
In my opinion the Penguins have done it twice. Chicago could be blamed on dollar Bill but they were letting elite talent skip town and trading captains. They were not a picture of trying either before they hit on a lot of that current young core.
The Oilers just had the bottom drop out. I don't know that I would call them the classic tank to win, once it happened they didn't apologize for it and had to be honest. But they were trying and had a series of just unfortunate things happen to them. The Pens and Hawks were just being flat out cheap. I think that has to do with the fanbases knowledge. Teams in the US get away with that, teams in Canada don't have as easy a time in my opinion. If Montreal stinks next year they will sell it differently than say an Anaheim.
I don't really want Phoenix to get it especially while league owned. But MacKinnon to that franchise if they were moving to Seattle wouldn't be a bad thing. Having a young stud to sell the franchise from day 1 would be huge.
How about the St. Louis Blues? They did things the right way and just got bent over.
We had the #1 pick in 2006 and the clear choice was Erik Johnson. Think about it:
2004: Ovechkin
2005: Crosby
2006: Johnson
2007: Kane
2008: Stamkos
2009: Taveras
2010: Hall
2011: Nugent-Hopkins
Are you kidding me? The one year there is no clear, franchise forward at the top of the draft and it is the year the Blues have the #1 pick??? Give me a break. And of course Erik Johnson went on to tear his knee up in a golf cart accident and become a 2nd pairing d-man. Man what a total disappointment.
And even if you don't think Johnson was the top guy, Jordan Staal was #2 and he has been far from a franchise forward. He's a good player but look at the list.
And then how about this year?
The Blues were going to come into this year as one of the 5 best teams in the NHL. They built their team the right way. Through the draft and with no mega-dollar contracts that would hamstring the payroll.
They had their potential franchise forward finally coming over from Russia. Vladimir Tarasenko was going to be the missing piece on offense. The guy many thought wouldn't come over, was coming over. And then...a F'IN LOCKOUT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
The Blues are cursed.
Do I even have to mention that they went to the playoffs 25 straight years and they never once made it to the Stanley Cup Finals? Only twice did they make it to the Western Conference Finals...in 25 straight playoff appearances.
How about the Chris Pronger for Eric Brewer and 2 scrubs trade that was ordered by the owner? The crosscheck to Al MacInnis' eye that ended his career? Steve Yzerman's game 7 double OT winner? Owen Nolan from center ice in game 7 to help beat us when we won the President's Trophy? How about our owner boycotting the 1983 entry draft? Yeah, the Blues didn't make a pick that year. Oh and what about the Scott Stevens/Brendan Shanahan free agency fiasco that saw us surrender 5 first round picks?
The only thing we've had go right is the Brett Hull trade and the Alex Pietrangelo pick. Of course we watched Brett Hull win a Stanley Cup the year after he left St. Louis. Yeah that was fun!!!
I'll say Nashville. They've managed to stay competitive for a long time now while playing with a budget and no real high-end talent up front by instilling a culture of hardwork and team play. Give them an elite talent like MacKinnon up front to A-Sell tickets and B- lead the offense and who knows what they can do.
I'd probably do a coin toss between Toronto and Columbus. God knows Columbus has had rough times. Though it's been hell to watch the Leafs for the last decade so can't help but give a nod there.
Im throwing out a Homer response ... Detroit hasn't had a 1st overall since god knows when. (Yzerman was 3rd overall). Lids is gone, Pavels probably going home in 2014-15, and weve been making do with 20-25+'s for 2 decades now. Throw a dog a bone.
If the season is a total wash the lotto should be completely random - everyone deserves a shot.
Joe Murphy in 1986, exactly 1 year after the Leafs drafted Clark 1st overall, theyre only 1st overall ever (compared to 3 by Detroit). So if we go by the longest since, the Leafs would be ahead of Detroit
This is probably the most humorous thread on HF in quite some time. There's some real ridiculous reasons why some posters think their team should get the #1 pick, but that Red Wing fan above complaining about Yzerman and Lidstrom retiring... Throw the Wings a bone... That has to be the most ridiculous one yet.
Clearly it's the Blue Jackets. Phoenix is probably the only playoff team that should even be considered.
How about the St. Louis Blues? They did things the right way and just got bent over.
We had the #1 pick in 2006 and the clear choice was Erik Johnson. Think about it:
2004: Ovechkin
2005: Crosby
2006: Johnson
2007: Kane
2008: Stamkos
2009: Taveras
2010: Hall
2011: Nugent-Hopkins
Are you kidding me? The one year there is no clear, franchise forward at the top of the draft and it is the year the Blues have the #1 pick??? Give me a break. And of course Erik Johnson went on to tear his knee up in a golf cart accident and become a 2nd pairing d-man. Man what a total disappointment.
And even if you don't think Johnson was the top guy, Jordan Staal was #2 and he has been far from a franchise forward. He's a good player but look at the list.
And then how about this year?
The Blues were going to come into this year as one of the 5 best teams in the NHL. They built their team the right way. Through the draft and with no mega-dollar contracts that would hamstring the payroll.
They had their potential franchise forward finally coming over from Russia. Vladimir Tarasenko was going to be the missing piece on offense. The guy many thought wouldn't come over, was coming over. And then...a F'IN LOCKOUT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
The Blues are cursed.
Do I even have to mention that they went to the playoffs 25 straight years and they never once made it to the Stanley Cup Finals? Only twice did they make it to the Western Conference Finals...in 25 straight playoff appearances.
How about the Chris Pronger for Eric Brewer and 2 scrubs trade that was ordered by the owner? The crosscheck to Al MacInnis' eye that ended his career? Steve Yzerman's game 7 double OT winner? Owen Nolan from center ice in game 7 to help beat us when we won the President's Trophy? How about our owner boycotting the 1983 entry draft? Yeah, the Blues didn't make a pick that year. Oh and what about the Scott Stevens/Brendan Shanahan free agency fiasco that saw us surrender 5 first round picks?
The only thing we've had go right is the Brett Hull trade and the Alex Pietrangelo pick. Of course we watched Brett Hull win a Stanley Cup the year after he left St. Louis. Yeah that was fun!!!
Toews and Backstrom went 3 and 4. So also kind of their bad on that one.
Interestingly enough if they go by the old rules both St. Louis and Florida have two of the best shots despite being playoff teams last year if I remember right.
Toronto doesn't really need it. Brian Burke always picks his guy that was number 1 on his board without even needing to select there anyway or so he tells us.
Look, everyone can hate on the Wings all they want but if any team deserves to finally have a top pick it's them. Hell, doesn't even need to be #1 but a top 10 pick even would be nice. Last time the Wings drafted in the top 10 was 1991 when they took Marty Lapointe 10th. Since then the highest they've picked was 19th in 2005 courtesy of the lockout lottery. Only 1 pick in the top 20 in 21 years? Yeah I think maybe you can say they deserve one right about now.
Top 10 Picks 1992-2012
10 - Anaheim
9 - Boston ('97)
2 - Buffalo
6 - Calgary
7 - Carolina/Hartford
7 - Chicago ('07)
4 - Colorado/Quebec
11 - Columbus ('02) ***in 12 seasons***
3 - Dallas
0 - Detroit
10 - Edmonton ('10, '11, '12)
12 - Florida ('94)
6 - Los Angeles
8 - Minnesota
5 - Montreal
6 - Nashville
2 - New Jersey
18 - NY Islanders ('00, '09)
7 - NY Rangers
9 - Ottawa ('93, '95, '96)
4 - Philadelphia
6 - Phoenix/Winnipeg
6 - Pittsburgh ('03, '05)
9 - San Jose
2 - St. Louis ('06)
12 - Tampa Bay ('92, '98, '08)
5 - Toronto
6 - Vancouver
7 - Washington ('04)
11 - Winnipeg/Atlanta ('99, '01)
That's over the course of 21 drafts. There's a lot of long-term garbage from teams showing there. As for the deserving part, I'd say any team not popping up on the list should be most deserving. That means I'd lean towards Detroit, Buffalo, New Jersey, St. Louis, and Dallas - teams who have had 3 or fewer top 10 picks in the past 21 years. St. Louis I'd have the hardest time backing simply because they had a #1 overall very recently already. For all the people saying Columbus deserves it.....no. They've picked in the top 10 all but one year of their existance and have proven with their ineptitude that they don't deserve any lucky breaks until they can show some modicum of competence. Toronto I could support also. For all their inability to make the playoffs, they never stop trying to win as evidenced by only 5 picks on this list.
As a sidenote, this made me realize that maybe the NHL lottery system needs to be really overhauled to encourage teams to try harder to win. When 15 of the past 21 1st overall picks have gone to only 6 teams that seems like a real problem and maybe a sign that the current draft lottery system too heavily favors ineptitude and a more diverse NBA style system might be necessary to prevent teams from being rewarded for multiple years of very poor effort in the win column.
Last edited by FissionFire: 11-18-2012 at 11:47 PM.
