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True parity is giving the worst team the best pick. The NHL's parity is artificial, with its leading cause led by loser points in games.

Well, the good thing about having the worst NHL D in about 30 years is that any vet age 28 - 32 that doesn't accidentally poop himself when he farts would be an upgrade over everyone but Hronek, DeKeyser (if healthy), and maybe Nemeth.

Agreed. I'm just salty because my awful team is probably gonna get bent over by Parity™ at the draft lotto.

The true path to glory is grabbing a star at pick 31 +

It's not held behind closed doors. Each lottery team has someone present for the draw to ensure no shenanigans. Correct and correct.

So I have a paper due this week. Anybody know where I can go to get one written for me?

I think "tanking" will be there no matter what draft/lotto format. It is always gonna be necessary for teams to get rid of the old, bring in the young and start anew. Especially under a salary cap-system where chasing the cup for a longer period of time will probably f*** up your cap structure. ^^This. Exhibit A: the Oilers.

I actually enjoy Discord...You can speak your mind, and have funny/interesting banter.

I MADE this place's history. So yes, you are missing something.

Yzerman's going to spend some money on a D-men not named Green. Some mid-tier guy like Brodie, Gudas, Gustafson, Tanev, etc.

I don't see Yzerman bringing him back. Hronek, Dekeyser, Nemeth, and Biega are all under contract for next season. Seider, Lindstrom, and Cholowski are due to be on the roster. And Bowey is a RFA and will probably be re-signed. That's one too many D as it is. I have no problem sending Biega or Bowey down since they've peaked as lower end D-men, but I wouldn't bring back Green in favor of Seider, Cholowski, or Lindstrom being on the roster. Those 3 are still developing and should fill in the right side nicely. Green would just be a RH plug, and we already have 2 of those in Biega and Bowey.

The Billion Dollar Question: Has giving 15 teams a shot at a top-three pick actually helped combat shameless tanking and fostered Parity™? Maybe it's too early in the experiment to reach any solid conclusions, but...I kinda feel like the answer is no. The Wings are coming off a historically awful season. The Sens went all-in on a cynical/realistic blowup and nuked their roster from orbit. A couple years ago the Avs were dreadful. The Devils are back to being a Mickey Mouse team. The Sabres are the Sabres. It took the Oilers this long to get their act together. Point is: Teams sucking is very much still a thing. "Yes, but GMs and owners understand that they can't necessarily count on the draft bailing them out." OK...but has that actually changed the equation in a meaningful way? Yzerman could've added players who are better than Filppula and Nemeth. He didn't. Why didn't he? I think you could make the case that he sat on his hands because he decided the Wings "had to" suck this season. Why did the Wings "have to" suck? Because the Wings need a superstar and you have to draft that kind of player, and you can't expect to find that player outside the top 3 in any given draft. Hardcore sucking wouldn't guarantee us the 1st overall pick, but apparently that's a moot point, as it seems to me the mentality at the top of this organization's pecking order is "We want the best shot at 1st overall that we can give ourselves." And the Wings aren't exactly unique in this regard. "Everyone has to spend some time at the bottom" is, to me, a euphemistic way of saying "Tanking is still a thing. And, in fact, the way things are set up now, we've actually created an ecosystem where tanking is an institutionalized necessity." There are counterpoints, of course. I like that the Isles flipped reality the bird and said, "Screw you all. We went out and got Barry Trotz because we have no interest in being a basement team. Our mediocre-ass team is making the playoffs this season." I like that the Coyotes and Canucks have been patient and seem to be on the verge of turning things around, all without hardcore tanking and a single recent top-three pick between them. At the end of the day, it's on the GMs and owners and coaches and players and scouts. The Detroit Red Wings haven't been victimized by the draft lotto. They don't have to play the tank game. No one's forcing Yzerman to not go playoffs-or-bust. I guess my point is that Yzerman, like any GM, is a pretty smart guy who hates losing and believes in the importance of integrity...so, for him or any other GM to be like "Yeah, we're gonna be bad for a while. What can you do, y'know? It's just the way it is. [shrug] No sense in adding marquee UFAs at this time"...that sucks, man. I don't like it. I've never liked incentivized tanking. The more I think about it, the less convinced I am that the 15-team lotto system actually disincentivizes tanking in any measurable, meaningful way.

I used it horribly, some of my favorite movies are parodys. This whole draft seems to be a mockery, a spoof if you will of a normal NHL draft, yet still not funny to me. It wasnt all lost! It could very well be a parody, just not a funny one. Somewhat like my joke

The force is slow with this one.

It will be funny to see who jumps back on the LGW bandwagon once we get back to the playoffs...heck they might even start coming back if we are lucky enough to draft Lafrienere. Honestly, the few of us that are here still should get some badges or something for keeping this place afloat!