Draft lottery revisions tabled by NHL general managers

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Tweaks to the entry draft lottery were not discussed on the final day of the NHL’s general managers meetings at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. 

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Leading into the meetings, there was some talk about taking a look at the draft lottery and exchanging ideas on how to prevent the same team from picking first overall year-after-year. The Edmonton Oilers have picked No. 1 four times this decade. General managers said they were comfortable enough with the current system, so the subject wasn’t broached. 

“I don’t think there’s any appetite to penalize the team that does finish 30th that they can’t pick first,” Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray said. “I still think there’s a purpose to the draft and that’s so the worst teams that need players get the best players. Whether it’s 1-2-3, that’s fine.”

The consensus was to see how this year’s lottery system played out, with the team with the fewerst amount of points potentially being dropped to the fourth overall pick.

“We reported on what we're doing this year in the draft lottery but there was no discussion with respect to potential changes to it,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper