from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

As our Aaron Portzline has pointed out, the Jackets have better odds of winning the draft lottery than they do of making the playoffs.

Winning the draft lottery would be the best thing that happened to them since overtime of Game 4 at Nationwide Arena last spring. It would be much better than moving up two, three or four places now and lessening their chances at drafting Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel.

Management will never say that, and the players will not even consider it. But, for the love of Alexandre Picard, the fans know it to be true. They have been through this too many times.

Through their first 13 seasons, the Jackets’ average conference finish was 12th place.

Their average first-round draft slot has been between No. 7 and No. 8. They are 0 for 12 in draft lotteries, which is just about impossible.

To put this in contemporary terms: The 2015 draft is said to be 10-deep on high-end talent, so the Jackets are not in a bad position right now. But they would be better off if they sank, rather than climbed, in the standings.

more