The Wings didn't get screwed by the revised system this year. They had exactly the same chance of winning the lottery as they would have in any other year.
The only thing that changed is that the TBD teams, effectively pooled their odds at getting one (or more) of the higher picks.
Look at the math. Do you know what the chances are, of the last place team, ending up with the 4th overall pick? It's 50.6%. That Detroit would fall to 4th.... it's about as likely as you flipping a coin, and getting tails.
Now, that's with the new(ish) systems, where all three of the top picks are up for grabs, and adjusted (slightly) since Vegas came into the league.
The 18.5% chance of getting the 1st pick, while that gave them the best chance of any single team winning - there's a much better chance they don't.
2019: New Jersey (3rd), New York (5th), Chicago (10th) all moved up. Last place Ottawa fell to 4th, but their pick was in the hands of Colorado.
2018: Buffalo, the last place team, actually retained the #1 pick. Carolina jumped from 11th to 2, and Montreal from 4 to 3
2017: Devils (5th), Flyers (13th), and Stars (8th) all moved up bug, and bumped the bottom three teams down to 4-5-6.
While I do understand it looks as though the bottom 8 teams in the lottery get pooled as one... that's only because the result is the same, not because that's how the lottery worked. Team E, with a 2.5% chance, is who won. In a normal year, that would have meant that the team picking 12th moved up to first.
The way they did this: The 8 TBD teams all got a 3% chance of winning the 1st overall pick (their combined 24%, and then the 1-in-8 drawing that comes up again).
Assuming the bingo balls fall in the same place: If they'd waited until after the play-in games to do this.... so they wouldn't need TBD teams (and could rank everyone in their right spot): Detroit still walks away with the 4th overall pick.
If the criticism is being thrown at the system in general, rather than this year specifically, then I think there is a strong point to be made. The entire purpose of the draft is distribution of talent. Give the best prospects to the weakest teams. Doing a draw where any of 15 teams can end up with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pick: It makes it almost certain that at least one of those high picks will go to a team that is not "bad", just "not great", "unlucky", or "injured".
Is that right? I dunno. The system was designed to top stop teams from tanking (Ottawa, Buffalo) and to stop rewarding inept management (Edmonton). Does it do that? IMO, no. I mean, it takes away the "likely" reward, and replaces it with a good chance of the reward, and a nice consolation price.
