Personally, I side with “team” tank. But I admittingly didn’t know the best route to take doing it. The Detroit Red Wings have been on fire over the last few weeks of the season, winning games they have no business winning and suddenly playing like a playoff team when the playoffs are well out of reach and have been since the calendar changed from 2018 to 2019.
So what should they have done to guarantee a top-three draft choice? First of all, there are no guarantees with the NHL draft lottery format. You have better odds the worse you finish, but it only takes one good bounce your way to land the first overall pick.