NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman decided to pour a little salt in the wounds of Detroit Red Wings fans everywhere when he offered his thoughts on the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery process.
To put it simply, he believes that the process was “fair”, saying that the eight teams that were in the expanded playoffs would have had a chance to win the lottery if the pandemic didn’t alter the season.
The League’s worst seven teams (with Detroit being a whopping 23 points behind the 2nd worst team, Ottawa) had their seasons end upon the pausing of the year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NHL Draft Lottery drawing in late June saw the Red Wings land the No. 4 overall pick behind the Senators and Kings – with a yet-to-be-determined team being awarded the 1st pick.
The kicker? The winner of the 1st pick was ultimately a team that lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs, meaning a playoff team would be getting a shot at a potential generational talent.
You can certainly excuse us for respectfully disagreeing with that statement.
Now, that’s not to say that the Red Wings won’t end up with a high end talent when they select later this year. There have been plenty of players drafted No. 4 overall that have gone on to be stars, most notably Steve Yzerman in 1983.
However, there’s no reason why the Red Wings shouldn’t be printing “Lafreniere” on jerseys right now.
BONUS CONTENT: The last time the Red Wings picked 4th overall, they took Steve Yzerman
Ok, so we now know that the Detroit Red Wings did not have luck on their side on Friday night as they found out they will be picking No. 4 in the 2020 NHL Draft, despite finishing with the worst record in the league.
Fans are going crazy (in a bad way), calling the NHL Draft Lottery “rigged” and “a joke.”
But everybody just needs to chill.
Let’s take a look back to the last time the Red Wings had the No. 4 overall pick in the NHL Draft.
The year was 1983 and according to reports, the Red Wings were hoping that C Pat LaFontaine would fall to them but he did not.
Instead, the Red Wings selected another center by the name of Steve Yzerman.
