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I think 3 years is actually a pretty good timeline if things go well. With Getzlaf, as have started to see, he simply can’t carry the team like he used. It’s why getting a legit 2C is so crucial this offseason and hopefully a true 1C prospect soon. Take the burden off of him and help prolong his career. I’ve always seen him being a lifetime Duck. The expansion draft will be interesting since every notable prospect other than Comtois will be eligible. Perry and Getz will be off the books (the Ducks could always extend Getz after the ED) and Kesler may not even need to be protected. They’ll have more options than last time.

Thanks for correcting me on Horton and Wheeler. Boston would be more of an exception to the rule but I’d still point more towards Pittsburgh, Chicago, and to a lesser extent LA for making her case for the Ducks tanking and getting a top-5 pick. Washington also. I have almost no confidence in Murray being able pull off the trades necessary to help get the Ducks back to the promise land. Murray has been great with drafting goalies, solid with defenseman but has been awful with drafting and developing forwards over his tenure. Granted he’s been drafting later in the draft making it harder, which is why I want the Ducks to tank for the highest pick possible. Hopefully, he’ll prove me wrong in the offseason but I’m not betting on it.

True. Still, Tyler Seguin is a star talent commensurate with where he was drafted and trading him was one of Peter Chiarelli’s crowning GM moves. I think that the Ducks need that kind of talent more than ever with Getzlaf and Perry winding down along with Kesler’s career not to mention level of play more in jeopardy. They also had Nathan Horton who was drafted 3rd overall and traded Blake Wheeler mid-season who was a 4th overall pick to bring in pieces to contribute to that run. So, the currency of those picks is can still be valuable to help upgrade a roster. Boston really struck gold in the 2nd round with picks like Krejci, Bergeron and Marchand though.

True. We won in 07’ because we lucked out better than any team in 03’ draft, which is the best draft class in NHL history. Also because we had one of the best defenseman of all-time’s brother and another HOF defenseman who’s alleged dalliances forced him out out of Edmonton. The Ducks had to have all of that fall in place to win then and I’m not counting on them to be that level of fortunate again. I want the highest pick possible as a hedge against not the lottery. I agree that Murray fired Carlyle way too late. He should have been fired at least two months earlier or kept him through the season. It’s funny because he made it to where fans were angry/demoralized because of how awful the team was and weren’t winning, to a healthy shift of fans being upset that they are winning now and hurting ours draft odds. Good thing that we are saddled with him for 3 more years. I’m putting more of my hopes on getting the St. Louis pick since they are more likely to finish closer to 20th and will also have a very hard first round match up against Winnipeg or Nashville. Plus, even if they win that series, the draft slots don’t change until after the second round. On top of crushing us last year, the Sharks also had the better pick.

We didn't need a lottery pick in '07 to win a Cup but besides that as I've tried to say over and over, the only way to be a sure lock for a top 5 pick is to be worst and second worst in points at the end of the season. The Ducks were never that bad to be one of the two worst teams in the NHL because we actually have talent and one of the best goalies in the game. I fault Murray for not firing Carlyle sooner while the season still had a chance to maybe be salvaged, hell I fault him for hiring Carlyle period. My point in all this BTD is that the history of the current lottery has proven that better odds haven't meant anything for the 2nd or 3rd worst team going into the lottery because they have always in every instance of this current lottery system, fallen back. So history is more in our favor than the odds which are only slightly worse for us. Other teams still have games in hand on us and San Jose plays bad against Vegas so I anticipate them getting booted in the first round which increases the chances of our 2nd first round pick of being in the high 20's.