Draft lottery is tonight...

[DarthEbriate]

Fun.

Toronto could really accelerate a teardown and rebuild by trading this 1st overall (down a couple spots) and Matthews, then going for another top-3 pick next year.

Alternately, they could force an 18-year-old into next year's lineup and still finish 5th in the division and trade Matthews with only a single season left on his contract. 

[_Q_]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Fun.

Toronto could really accelerate a teardown and rebuild by trading this 1st overall (down a couple spots) and Matthews, then going for another top-3 pick next year.

Alternately, they could force an 18-year-old into next year's lineup and still finish 5th in the division and trade Matthews with only a single season left on his contract. 

This "result" kept them relevant for the next 3 years.  Their disastrous hirings in the FO, will mitigate that.

[Archie Lee]

16 minutes ago, _Q_ said:

I'll clarify, no need to threaten.  But 100% a prediction.  I mean who lives in a world that thinks everything is on the up and up?  Seriously?

Rigging the NHL draft lottery would be a serious criminal offence. Nobody is risking going to jail so that the Leafs can draft Gavin McKenna. 

[_Q_]

2 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

Rigging the NHL draft lottery would be a serious criminal offence. Nobody is risking going to jail so that the Leafs can draft Gavin McKenna. 

They would if they felt they were untouchable.  Welcome to 2026.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Archie Lee said:

Rigging the NHL draft lottery would be a serious criminal offence. Nobody is risking going to jail so that the Leafs can draft Gavin McKenna. 

Was going to stay out of this train wreck of a thread, but your post piqued curiosity enough to forego that.  What criminal statute does it violate?

[Second Line Center]

Buffalo and Montreal having all the fun.  
 

Disastrous PR week for Toronto.  
 

Ok here is a lotto win to settle everyone down - but also irk the entire Atlantic and Vancouver.  

[Spoonman]

32 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Ottawa has that locked up. Penalty due to their shenanigans.

Stanley Cup winner gets 31. 

[_Q_]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Was going to stay out of this train wreck of a thread, but your post piqued curiosity enough to forego that.  What criminal statute does it violate?

My guess would be fraud against the ticket paying customers.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, _Q_ said:

My guess would be fraud against the ticket paying customers.

Who was dumb enough to buy a ticket to see the draft lottery?

[_Q_]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Who was dumb enough to buy a ticket to see the draft lottery?

Not for the lottery, but fraud against the game by game ticket buyers. 

[GHOST OF KEVYN ADAMS]

33 minutes ago, _Q_ said:

I'm not sure why the personal attack.  I brought up the possibility of something being rigged.  Zero percent chance that there is not an election that has been rigged.

NHL drafts have infamously been questioned for rigging.

Oh nice.  Sorry if I struck a nerve.

It's s joke bro. Lighten up.

[_Q_]

2 minutes ago, GHOST OF KEVYN ADAMS said:

It's s joke bro. Lighten up.

Hey, I'm uptight tonight!

[Taro T]

Just now, _Q_ said:

Not for the lottery, but fraud against the game by game ticket buyers. 

Certainly am going to regret asking this, but in what way is a rigged lottery (making the presumption for sake of discussion that there was in fact a rigging of the lottery) which takes place while the previous season is ongoing to select prospects at a draft also held before the previous season's calendar is completely cleared a fraud against people buying tickets to attend games of teams whose rosters won't be set for over 5 more months commiting "fraud" against those ticket buyers?

[_Q_]

3 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Certainly am going to regret asking this, but in what way is a rigged lottery (making the presumption for sake of discussion that there was in fact a rigging of the lottery) which takes place while the previous season is ongoing to select prospects at a draft also held before the previous season's calendar is completely cleared a fraud against people buying tickets to attend games of teams whose rosters won't be set for over 5 more months commiting "fraud" against those ticket buyers?

AI generated to make the response easy on me.

 

If the NHL Draft were proven to be rigged, the fraud on fans would be one of the biggest betrayals in modern sports.Fans buy tickets, jerseys, streaming packages, and invest years of emotional support under the promise that the league is fair and the draft gives bad teams a real shot at stars. If that was all fake — manipulated lottery, leaked info, backroom deals, or orchestrated tanking — here’s what it would mean for fans:

Immediate Loss of Trust
Fans would feel personally scammed. Every “lucky” lottery win, every rebuild, and every surprise top pick would suddenly look fake. A lot of people would just stop caring and walk away, especially newer or casual fans.

Financial Impact & Lawsuits

Class-action lawsuits against the NHL for fraud

Fans demanding refunds on tickets, jerseys, and season packages tied to tainted drafts

Crashed value on resale tickets and memorabilia from affected years

Boycotts and Revenue Drop
Organized boycotts of games and merch would hit hard. Attendance and TV ratings would tank. The remaining fans would likely end up paying more as the league tries to recover.

Destroyed Competitive Integrity

Every player drafted in the rigged years gets an asterisk

Years of “trust the process” suffering by fans would feel like a lie

The NHL’s biggest selling point (parity) would be exposed as fake

Long-term Damage
Media would talk about the scandal more than the games. Sponsors might leave. Non-traditional markets would lose interest fast. The sport would feel smaller, cheaper, and scripted instead of real.

Bottom line: Sports only work when fans believe the outcomes aren’t predetermined. A rigged draft would turn the NHL from a league fans love because it feels fair into one they can’t fully trust anymore. The biggest victims would be the regular fans — the ones who paid to be entertained, not lied to.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, _Q_ said:

AI generated to make the response easy on me.

 

If the NHL Draft were proven to be rigged, the fraud on fans would be one of the biggest betrayals in modern sports.Fans buy tickets, jerseys, streaming packages, and invest years of emotional support under the promise that the league is fair and the draft gives bad teams a real shot at stars. If that was all fake — manipulated lottery, leaked info, backroom deals, or orchestrated tanking — here’s what it would mean for fans:

Immediate Loss of Trust
Fans would feel personally scammed. Every “lucky” lottery win, every rebuild, and every surprise top pick would suddenly look fake. A lot of people would just stop caring and walk away, especially newer or casual fans.

Financial Impact & Lawsuits

Class-action lawsuits against the NHL for fraud

Fans demanding refunds on tickets, jerseys, and season packages tied to tainted drafts

Crashed value on resale tickets and memorabilia from affected years

Boycotts and Revenue Drop
Organized boycotts of games and merch would hit hard. Attendance and TV ratings would tank. The remaining fans would likely end up paying more as the league tries to recover.

Destroyed Competitive Integrity

Every player drafted in the rigged years gets an asterisk

Years of “trust the process” suffering by fans would feel like a lie

The NHL’s biggest selling point (parity) would be exposed as fake

Long-term Damage
Media would talk about the scandal more than the games. Sponsors might leave. Non-traditional markets would lose interest fast. The sport would feel smaller, cheaper, and scripted instead of real.

Bottom line: Sports only work when fans believe the outcomes aren’t predetermined. A rigged draft would turn the NHL from a league fans love because it feels fair into one they can’t fully trust anymore. The biggest victims would be the regular fans — the ones who paid to be entertained, not lied to.

Don't suppose you nor your AI Agent could actually cite a statute that a rigged lottery would be in actual violation of, could you?

 

Btw, you do realize that AI is the lazy person's Wiki, right?

[SDS]

People making extraordinary claims are required to have extraordinary evidence.

so, these lottery balls had switchable magnetic properties that would cause them to be selected when the wizard behind the curtain called for the number? Is 5G involved?

[Flashsabre]

Leafs have a ton of holes in their lineup. This won’t fix anything 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Toronto won the draft lottery? I’m shocked! Ok, not really.  
 

Edm won the McDavid lottery?  I’m shocked! Ok, not really.

 

It’s time to get rid of the draft lottery.  So what if teams “tank”, I’m sorry, let me rephrase.  So what if teams sell off all their good players so that they suck down the stretch.  As we have learned it takes more than a few good picks to turn around a franchise.  It starts with competent management.   
 

PS McDavid and Matthews have yet to win a Cup.  Then again Toronto hasn’t sniffed playing for the Cup since 1967.

Edited May 6 by GASabresIUFAN

[Cheektorado]

Now this thread has everything.

[_Q_]

3 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Don't suppose you nor your AI Agent could actually cite a statute that a rigged lottery would be in actual violation of, could you?

 

Btw, you do realize that AI is the lazy person's Wiki, right?

So to be clear, you do not think that a league committing fraud against its customers has any liability? 

4 minutes ago, SDS said:

People making extraordinary claims are required to have extraordinary evidence.

so, these lottery balls had switchable magnetic properties that would cause them to be selected when the wizard behind the curtain called for the number? Is 5G involved?

To be clear, you do not question anything that is presented to you?  Put aside the dumshit assumptions as to how they could rig it/

[Second Line Center]

….Ernst & Young supposedly oversees the process, which is rich, considering this is the same firm that oversaw the 2002 Oscars debacle and the 2017 Oscars envelope switcheroo. You’re not selling peace of mind—you’re selling plausible deniability.

Here's the dirty secret: the paranoia is the point. If the NHL lottery wasn’t rigged—or at least grotesquely flawed—you wouldn’t have a dozen thinkpieces every damn year insisting it’s not. You don’t see NBA fans lighting themselves on fire over their lottery. You don’t hear NFL fans shrieking for camera access to the pick draw. Only in the NHL does the league have to trot out self-appointed internet ombudsmen to desperately argue that, no, really, it’s totally fair, pinky swear.

 

The existence of these annual "debunking" columns is the smoking gun. No legitimate, functional lottery system should need this many damn footnotes.

So why fix it if it’s so broken? Because it works—for the suits. Top picks mean jerseys sold. TV eyeballs. Clicks. Sponsorships. The NHL isn’t a charity—it’s a money machine disguised as a sport. You don’t give Connor Bedard to Winnipeg. You give him to Chicago. Why? Because Chicago sells. Anaheim?

 

https://www.joedaly.net/features/pucking-rigged-inside-the-nhls-backroom-gongshow-of-lies-and-lottery-balls

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, _Q_ said:

So to be clear, you do not think that a league committing fraud against its customers has any liability? 

To be clear, you do not question anything that is presented to you?  Put aside the dumshit assumptions as to how they could rig it/

To be clear, have asked repeatedly what statute a sports league rigging its own draft lottery violates?  Personally, don't know of any statutes that regulate such an internal matter.  And, at least up through now, nobody else has volunteered any that this would violate (again, presuming that the lottery was actually rigged which in no way shape or form has been even circumstantially established).

[Second Line Center]

 

[_Q_]

Just now, Taro T said:

To be clear, have asked repeatedly what statute a sports league rigging its own draft lottery violates?  Personally, don't know of any statutes that regulate such an internal matter.  And, at least up through now, nobody else has volunteered any that this would violate (again, presuming that the lottery was actually rigged which in no way shape or form has been even circumstantially established).

LOL Sports Rigging is ok unless you provide a statute.  Sorry bro, tarded.

[Taro T]

Just now, Second Line Center said:

….Ernst & Young supposedly oversees the process, which is rich, considering this is the same firm that oversaw the 2002 Oscars debacle and the 2017 Oscars envelope switcheroo. You’re not selling peace of mind—you’re selling plausible deniability.

Here's the dirty secret: the paranoia is the point. If the NHL lottery wasn’t rigged—or at least grotesquely flawed—you wouldn’t have a dozen thinkpieces every damn year insisting it’s not. You don’t see NBA fans lighting themselves on fire over their lottery. You don’t hear NFL fans shrieking for camera access to the pick draw. Only in the NHL does the league have to trot out self-appointed internet ombudsmen to desperately argue that, no, really, it’s totally fair, pinky swear.

 

The existence of these annual "debunking" columns is the smoking gun. No legitimate, functional lottery system should need this many damn footnotes.

So why fix it if it’s so broken? Because it works—for the suits. Top picks mean jerseys sold. TV eyeballs. Clicks. Sponsorships. The NHL isn’t a charity—it’s a money machine disguised as a sport. You don’t give Connor Bedard to Winnipeg. You give him to Chicago. Why? Because Chicago sells. Anaheim?

 

https://www.joedaly.net/features/pucking-rigged-inside-the-nhls-backroom-gongshow-of-lies-and-lottery-balls

When is the last time the NFL held a "draft lottery?"  And far more interestingly, when's the last time NFL fans have been shrieking over their team getting hosed by the non-existant draft lottery?