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We here at Monday Morning Quarterback Central might not subscribe to the theory that the fix was in on the NHL draft lottery.

Why would the NHL want to arrange the result? Sure, Rogers paid a bazillion dollars for the broadcast rights. Yeah, the ratings for the network’s game telecasts are down there where the submarines roam, so Rogers is taking a bath on its NHL investment.

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And yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the linchpin of that whole broadcast deal and they’ve been rancid since around 1967. But rig the draft so that the NHL’s pet franchise gets a crack at the top pick? Only a greedy, money-obsessed sports league would even … oh, never mind.

What is more troublesome than the possibility that the NHL might have rigged the lottery is the process that brought us to this point: Blatant, persistent tanking is fatal to a sports league. Any league. The players on the ice may be trying hard, but when management has already ensured failure by shipping out most of their high-priced players, that’s tanking.