Indeed, being a contender should be all the more reason to creatively acquire talent.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Hey cuz, totally agree....


U going to start that trade rumor again....

All teams not making the playoffs should receive an equal chance to win the lottery. All playoffs teams should also have the opportunity to win the lottery albeit a very small chance. Remove the reward for tanking and hopefully it stops.
- paulr

I have no problem with next years lottery set up - the one you are suggesting i also wouldnt have a huge issue with.

The pts since being eliminated rule may work but i think its a bit of an onerous way to do this.

Loser tourney doesnt work - bad teams will never get better.

Eliminate the draft and the league will turn into a gong show. You think there are bad contracts now wait until you have 18 year olds getting million dollar contracts half of which are busts and all top 5-10 picks probably getting 3+ million for long term.

Wow what a brutal blog. The Penguins wouldn't even have a team right now had it not been for the draft saving their franchise. All high and mighty these days. You guys picked top 5 for 5 years in a row. What a joke.
- Ihatebrianburke

No one is being all high and mighty these days, he's simply stating that he believes the status quo is flawed.. not sure what's hard to comprehend? It's not about what happened in the past, it's about fixing things for the future.

How good is Olli Maata tough?

He posted some interesting numbers in his first NHL season but do you see him as a solid point producer for the Pens? Especially with Letang's future being uncertain?

Wow what a brutal blog. The Penguins wouldn't even have a team right now had it not been for the draft saving their franchise. All high and mighty these days. You guys picked top 5 for 5 years in a row. What a joke.
- Ihatebrianburke

Exactly!! Now that they are giving away picks like candy for so so players and haven't drafted that well with the later picks he wants to change everything
Brutal blog is dead on

How good is Olli Maata tough?

He posted some interesting numbers in his first NHL season but do you see him as a solid point producer for the Pens? Especially with Letang's future being uncertain?
- Scabeh

I personally think Maatta's future is just as uncertain as Tanger's... 2 shoulder surgerys, cancer, mumps... seems like all the Pens need to drink some Fight Milk from Charlie and Mac...

No one is being all high and mighty these days, he's simply stating that he believes the status quo is flawed.. not sure what's hard to comprehend? It's not about what happened in the past, it's about fixing things for the future.
- j.boyd919

You really think he would be writing this blog if this was 8 years or so ago?

No one is being all high and mighty these days, he's simply stating that he believes the status quo is flawed.. not sure what's hard to comprehend? It's not about what happened in the past, it's about fixing things for the future.
- j.boyd919

Please, he's writing it because the future in Pittsburgh looks poopty at best based on that chart so drastic changes would benefit his favorite team that wouldn't even exist without tanking.

Please, he's writing it because the future in Pittsburgh looks poopty at best based on that chart so drastic changes would benefit his favorite team that wouldn't even exist without tanking.
- PaskySens

You really think he would be writing this blog if this was 8 years or so ago?
- Vukota

why not?

Exactly!! Now that they are giving away picks like candy for so so players and haven't drafted that well with the later picks he wants to change everything
Brutal blog is dead on
- Vukota

If you had read the blog.. he states how the Penguins made poor decisions in asset management, he wasn't disregarding that. I don't even think this blog is aimed at the Penguins at all, it's more a league-wide opinion. The Penguins are eventually going to be a bad team again, we are all aware of that. Most teams are, except Detroit. Like I said I don't think this has anything to do with the Penguins directly, but how the league can fix itself.

You really think he would be writing this blog if this was 8 years or so ago?
- Vukota

Sure, why not? I don't see why he wouldn't.

I personally think Maatta's future is just as uncertain as Tanger's... 2 shoulder surgerys, cancer, mumps... seems like all the Pens need to drink some Fight Milk from Charlie and Mac...
- j.boyd919

So since ur 2 highly regarded Dmen seem uncertain, is now the time to talk trade??

Malkin for Reinhart.....

Please, he's writing it because the future in Pittsburgh looks poopty at best based on that chart so drastic changes would benefit his favorite team that wouldn't even exist without tanking.
- PaskySens

Sour grapes lately? If you regularly have read RW's articles, he often writes his opinion on how to improve the NHL, not JUST the Penguins. He covers and writes about the Penguins, but I believe his intentions on blogs like this are to improve the entire state of the NHL. Think about it, if Yost's proposed no draft were in effect, teams in struggling markets like Arizon and Carolina and Florida could just sign exciting superstars, thus creating better revenue for the league. It's not just about Pittsburgh dude.

I have no problem with next years lottery set up - the one you are suggesting i also wouldnt have a huge issue with.

The pts since being eliminated rule may work but i think its a bit of an onerous way to do this.

Loser tourney doesnt work - bad teams will never get better.

Eliminate the draft and the league will turn into a gong show. You think there are bad contracts now wait until you have 18 year olds getting million dollar contracts half of which are busts and all top 5-10 picks probably getting 3+ million for long term.
- DirtyDozen

The points after being eliminated idea is terrible. It's inherently unbalanced already because of conference and division strengths (not to mention the schedule in general), and it encourages teams to keep players who they might actually be able to get assets for in trade, simply to improve their draft standing. Then think of it from a player perspective. How hard do I really want to play so that some better young kid can come in and replace me?

The draft exists to create parity. You can cry "tank" all you want, but Buffalo, Arizona, and Edmonton all sucked before the deadline, and they still suck after it. The worst teams get higher picks, and if you make your team worse to get them, you still have a crap team once you do.

I have no problem with a GM who stockpiles assets and tries to blow up a team to revamp them. The fact is, for all this planning and selling off, there's still a chance that one of those teams doesn't get the player they wanted, and they're in worse shape than when they started.

Detroit hasn't had a top 10 pick in over two decades, but they contend almost every year. Because you don't have to draft high to become a great team. You just have to be good at your job.

If you had read the blog.. he states how the Penguins made poor decisions in asset management, he wasn't disregarding that. I don't even think this blog is aimed at the Penguins at all, it's more a league-wide opinion. The Penguins are eventually going to be a bad team again, we are all aware of that. Most teams are, except Detroit. Like I said I don't think this has anything to do with the Penguins directly, but how the league can fix itself.
- j.boyd919

No I understand that, I just think its funny that the system that helped build you guys into a power house is now all of a sudden flawed because you're not in that position anymore. You want to get rid of the lottery then you have to get rid of no trade clauses and no movement clauses given out in deals. Some teams can't lure big free agents or players don't want to be moved there and these teams rely on the draft to better themselves for the future. It's not an even playing field for all 32 teams as long as you have these types of clauses. I also don't think the Oilers are the norm when it comes to winning the draft lottery every year as much as has to do with bad management and not surrounding the team with the right players.

How good is Olli Maata tough?

He posted some interesting numbers in his first NHL season but do you see him as a solid point producer for the Pens? Especially with Letang's future being uncertain?
- Scabeh

If he stays healthy, key point since its the Penguins now, yes, I can see our Dcorp being a very high, possibly even the highest, point total in the NHL within the next few seasons, possible for all of the next few seasons.

Sure, why not? I don't see why he wouldn't.
- j.boyd919

Because nobody in Pittsburgh was complaining when you guys were drafting in top 2 four years in a row If you can't see the hypocrisy in this blog then I don't know what to tell you

No I understand that, I just think its funny that the system that helped build you guys into a power house is now all of a sudden flawed because you're not in that position anymore. You want to get rid of the lottery then you have to get rid of no trade clauses and no movement clauses given out in deals. Some teams can't lure big free agents or players don't want to be moved there and these teams rely on the draft to better themselves for the future. It's not an even playing field for all 32 teams as long as you have these types of clauses. I also don't think the Oilers are the norm when it comes to winning the draft lottery every year as much as has to do with bad management and not surrounding the team with the right players.
- Vukota

Right, I understand there is way more to it than just getting rid of the draft, but I don't think he is saying the system is all of a sudden flawed... I think he believes it has been flawed all a long. If he wasn't a Penguins blogger, but was a Sabres, Yotes, Isles, Oilers, Sharks, whatever team.. it doesn't matter.. would you all still be crying foul? I don't think so, but because he writes the Pens, it's all a "benefit the Penguins" blog, which I don't think it is at all. Regardless of the team he writes, this blog would be coming out. That's more my problem, just the fact that everyone is attacking him based on benefiting the Pens, which I think he would have written regardless of team followed.

Right, I understand there is way more to it than just getting rid of the draft, but I don't think he is saying the system is all of a sudden flawed... I think he believes it has been flawed all a long. If he wasn't a Penguins blogger, but was a Sabres, Yotes, Isles, Oilers, Sharks, whatever team.. it doesn't matter.. would you all still be crying foul? I don't think so, but because he writes the Pens, it's all a "benefit the Penguins" blog, which I don't think it is at all. Regardless of the team he writes, this blog would be coming out. That's more my problem, just the fact that everyone is attacking him based on benefiting the Pens, which I think he would have written regardless of team followed.
- j.boyd919

Fair enough

So since ur 2 highly regarded Dmen seem uncertain, is now the time to talk trade??

Malkin for Reinhart.....
- Ur Not Me

Add in Tavares and you're a little closer

This tanking word is annoying, can't a team just be bad?
- c2rds

How do you prove a team is tanking on purpose? I agree its not really ethical, but it is hard to prove.

Right, I understand there is way more to it than just getting rid of the draft, but I don't think he is saying the system is all of a sudden flawed... I think he believes it has been flawed all a long. If he wasn't a Penguins blogger, but was a Sabres, Yotes, Isles, Oilers, Sharks, whatever team.. it doesn't matter.. would you all still be crying foul? I don't think so, but because he writes the Pens, it's all a "benefit the Penguins" blog, which I don't think it is at all. Regardless of the team he writes, this blog would be coming out. That's more my problem, just the fact that everyone is attacking him based on benefiting the Pens, which I think he would have written regardless of team followed.
- j.boyd919

That was my original question though, whether he felt that way when the Pens we're tanking and drafting Crosby, if he we're a Pens fan at the time or if he even watched/followed hockey. Obviously if he wrote this as a Sabres blogger it would be a different story about how some of us would view his blog.

This would make the FA period even better. It would be fantastic!

The points after being eliminated idea is terrible. It's inherently unbalanced already because of conference and division strengths (not to mention the schedule in general), and it encourages teams to keep players who they might actually be able to get assets for in trade, simply to improve their draft standing. Then think of it from a player perspective. How hard do I really want to play so that some better young kid can come in and replace me?

The draft exists to create parity. You can cry "tank" all you want, but Buffalo, Arizona, and Edmonton all sucked before the deadline, and they still suck after it. The worst teams get higher picks, and if you make your team worse to get them, you still have a crap team once you do.

I have no problem with a GM who stockpiles assets and tries to blow up a team to revamp them. The fact is, for all this planning and selling off, there's still a chance that one of those teams doesn't get the player they wanted, and they're in worse shape than when they started.

Detroit hasn't had a top 10 pick in over two decades, but they contend almost every year. Because you don't have to draft high to become a great team. You just have to be good at your job.
- Sandus

Couldn't agree more. I have no problem with teams blowing it up. You piss off your fan base and sell less tickets......ultimately you pay a very steep price for that decision.