What if There Wasn't a Draft Lottery?

[Matt_O 896]

Some major sports leagues, such as the MLB and NFL, give the top draft picks to the worst teams. Other leagues, like the NHL and NBA, use a draft lottery to determine the top picks in the hopes of discouraging tanking. The VHL has a similar system, but what if we simply gave the top picks to the worst teams? I'm specifically going to look at Davos in the mid S60s, since they got shafted twice by the lottery.

 

In S63, Davos was the laughing stock of the league. They had just finished off a period of competitiveness, featuring a cup run in S61. In S63, they had 15 wins and a putrid -157 goal differential. They had the best odds to land the first overall pick in the S64 draft, which featured defenseman Ryan Sullivan Jr. as the top prospect. In the lottery, the Americans were the team that came out on top, and Davos fell down to second. Davos ending up selecting Elias Dahlberg, certainly a strong selection even though they didn't get the first overall pick. At that point they needed anyone they could get, so moving down to the 2nd pick was pretty negligible. 

 

The next year, Davos was just as awful as the year before. With only 16 wins, they finished well in last place for the second straight year. Unfortunately they lost the lottery to none other than the Americans once again, who selected first gen Carles Puigdemont with the first pick. Davos picked up Smitty Werbenjagermanjenson with the second pick. If Davos had the first pick, would they have selected Puigdemont instead? From what I remember during that time, Puigdemont was a pretty consensus top pick even though he was a first gen. This stroke of bad luck from the lottery actually worked out in Davos' favor, since Werbenjagermanjenson is a hall of famer and one of the best defensemen of this era. He only spent half of his career with Davos, but it still was a great pick. However, if Davos got the first pick there is good reason to believe that Puigdemont would have been the pick, who flamed out after a couple of seasons.

 

Puigdemont was a center when he got selected, meaning that the Rylan Peace trade to Davos likely never would of happened. They never drafted Dahlberg either, since they got Ryan Sullivan Jr. They would have Puigdemont and Svoboda manning the top line, and essentially the same defense core except Sullivan Jr. replaced Smitty. Their offense looks pretty weak from that, so perhaps instead of Rylan Peace, Davos trades Randoms to Riga for a young winger instead, such as Ryuu Crimson. Now you have a very young top line of Crimson-Puigdemont-Svoboda. The biggest problem is Puigdemont, who ended up leaving the league a couple seasons into his career. That leaves Davos with a problem in the S66 draft where they desperately need a center. They have the sixth overall pick, Davos originally selected defenseman Charlie Paddywagon, but now they need a center rather than a defenseman. I think they would end up selecting Jet Jaguar at 6. As we know, Jaguar was a tremendous player in the VHL. Now with the 13th pick, Davos could go for defense to pair alongside Ryan Sullivan Jr., so they select Apollo Hackett. Am I just picking the best players that went after their draft slot? Maybe, since they very easily could have taken Rusty Shackleford instead. However, those players fit what they would have needed.

 

Without the draft lottery, it's fair to say Davos would have actually gotten worse. However, selecting first overall in those drafts would have effected their future decisions, which I think would have benefited them. They could have Ryuu Crimson, Jet Jaguar, Pat Svoboda, Ryan Sullivan Jr., Apollo Hacket, and Finn Davidson in net. Even though their future core looked really solid in S66, this core might just be a little bit better. 

 

Is this what would have actually happened? Maybe, maybe not. However, all this should tell you is that losing the draft lottery isn't really the end of the world.

 

686 words

[Gooningitup 1,290]

Could use some pictures, to atleast break up the wall of words. Though who am i to talk when i write i am the same way . Very much an interesting idea, and fun take on what would potentially be. How it would have an impact on their respective teams. 

 

8/10