Deputy commissioner Bill Daly plans to table a draft-lottery proposal Thursday

[DetDannyWilliams]

When NHL general managers met in New York during the Stanley Cup finals, there wasn't consensus from the group to go ahead with a plan to change the draft-lottery format.

Some were for it; others -- most notably Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray -- were against changing it for 2015 for obvious reasons. It's the draft involving highly touted prospects Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel.

Several GMs we spoke with left the meeting believing the matter was to be further debated, but that no changes were on the horizon for next year.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly plans to table a draft-lottery proposal Thursday at the board of governors’ meeting in New York for owners to look at. If owners give it the go-ahead, the plan could be implemented next year. Interesting, to say the least.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/31559/rumblings-hawks-ducks-leading-the-pack-for-kesler

[SpikedLemonade]

LEBRUN: BOARD OF GOVERNORS VOTES IN CHANGES TO DRAFT LOTTERY

Changes to the NHL Draft Lottery were voted in on Thursday by the league's Board of Governors.

According to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun, the league still needs to confer with the National Hockey League Players' Association before they become official.

The league has proposed smoothing or compressing the odds among the 14 non-playoff teams for the 2015 draft and then increasing the number of selections determined by the lottery in 2016.....

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=455770

[swiper]

Can someone explain the plan in more detail?

[chernobylwraiths]

I believe they won't disclose the details till the players association gets them. At least I have heard no details from GR550 and they really want to know.

[don137]

Sounds like Buffalo may get screwed again.

[coastal]

The NHL's general managers met in New York during the Stanley Cup Final and at that time, Sabres general manager Tim Murray told LeBrun that potential new changes would not take effect in time for next year's highly anticipated 2015 Draft that will feature Connor McDavid.

[DetDannyWilliams]

Can someone explain the plan in more detail?

While the proposed new odds were unavailable, they would be compressed and give the 30th-place club a smaller chance of winning and the 17th-place team a greater chance.

Say, for example, the Sabres finish 30th, the Islanders end up 25th and St. Louis places 17th. Under this year’s lottery system, Buffalo would have a 31.7 percent chance of selecting first overall. The smoothing out between 30th and 17th could ultimately make it a higher percentage.

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/

[Downinfloflo]

The NHL's general managers met in New York during the Stanley Cup Final and at that time, Sabres general manager Tim Murray told LeBrun that potential new changes would not take effect in time for next year's highly anticipated 2015 Draft that will feature Connor McDavid.

“I just think it affects the teams you see at the bottom now, so you know who you’re affecting,” Murray toldBuffalo News. “I’m not sure that’s fair. I think if you did it three years out, you know you’re affecting somebody. You’re affecting a bad team, but you’re not sure who that team is right now.”
Under the changes, the worst team in the league goes from having a 25% chance to win the lottery to 19-20%. For 2015, the worst team can only slide one spot, which wouldn’t be a devastating drop given that Jack Eichel is another very highly-regarded prospect. Starting with the 2016 draft, the worst team will be able to drop as far as fourth place. All this is subject to the NHLPA’s approval, but Murray doesn’t think that will be an obstacle.
He’s also not fundamentally opposed to these changes, which are designed to discourage tanking, his issue is just with the timing of it. If the league agreed to these tweaks now, but waited a few years to implement them, then this would all be fine in his mind.

[SpikedLemonade]

So Murray was wrong about the timing and it will indeed effect next year's draft.

[chernobylwraiths]

So Murray was wrong about the timing and it will indeed effect next year's draft.

He was wrong, yes. But it seemed like the NHL were really pushing for this for the McDavid draft.

[gebobs]

Probably a good idea. There would probably be a race to the bottom by a half dozen teams next year.

[DetDannyWilliams]

NHL Network reporting that NHLPA will NOT APPROVE the new rules of the NHL lottery system! says that the "NHL can't change rules in just a day or whenever they feel like it" also the "NHL didn't include the NHLPA in the discussions". NHLPA says it's the division realignment all over again, if you remember the NHL put through division realignment without discussing it with the NHLPA either and the NHLPA turned it down.

[DetDannyWilliams]

NHL announces changes to Draft Lottery format

Under phase-in plan, odds will be adjusted to reflect increasing competitive balance in 2015; Lottery will be expanded to determine first three selections in 2016

2015 NHL Draft Lottery
The odds of winning the first overall selection in the NHL Draft for the 14 non-Playoff teams will be adjusted to more appropriately reflect the current state of competitive balance in the League. This will result in a more evenly-balanced allocation of odds, with the 10 highest-finishing non-Playoff qualifying teams receiving higher (better) Draft Lottery odds than they received previously and the four lowest-finishing teams receiving lower (worse) odds. The revised set of odds will remain in effect year-to-year in the future.

Non-Playoff Team (Fewest Pts. to Most)	New Draft Lottery Odds	Odds Under Former Allocation
1	20.0%	25.0%
2	13.5%	18.8%
3	11.5%	14.2%
4	9.5%	10.7%
5	8.5%	8.1%
6	7.5%	6.2%
7	6.5%	4.7%
8	6.0%	3.6%
9	5.0%	2.7%
10	3.5%	2.1%
11	3.0%	1.5%
12	2.5%	1.1%
13	2.0%	0.8%
14	1.0%	0.5%

2016 NHL Draft Lottery
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, in Draft Lottery will be assigned NHL Draft selections 4 through 14 in reverse order of regular-season points.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=728795&navid=DL|NHL|home

[DetDannyWilliams]

So the Sabres just have to finish 28th instead of 30th to win lottery to get McDavid

[SpikedLemonade]

I bet the NHL wishes it had pushed for even more changes for 2015 given the embarrassment the Sabres are causing them this year.

[gebobs]

Go eff yourself, troll.

Come on. What does it take to get a troll banned? This is ridiculous.

[JATMtheJATM]

I bet the NHL wishes it had pushed for even more changes for 2015 given the embarrassment the Sabres are causing them this year.

I think that's a bet many would take.