The NHL's annual draft lottery is always a topic of controversy, with criticism directed towards Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, as recently seen with Macklin Celebrini.
He suggests a concept called "The Wheel," proposed a decade ago by Mike Zarren of the Boston Celtics. This concept would ensure an equitable distribution of draft picks and eliminate the incentive to tank.
With "The Wheel," each team in the league would know their draft selection order for the next 32 drafts in advance. This would guarantee some equity, with picks in the top 8 every four years and three selections in the top 12 every eight years for each team.
However, adopting this concept would pose challenges, especially in the event of league expansion. The number of teams would need to remain stable for the 32-year cycle to maintain fairness.
