From 2008 to 2014, the New York Islanders averaged 72 points per season and made the playoffs just once. Their compensation for those terrible results we’re draft picks in the top ten in five of those six seasons.
That’s the way the NHL works. Finish with a bad record, get a good pick in return and maybe you won’t be so bad the next time around. In five years, the Islanders got a top ten pick five times.
Those five picks, in order, were: Josh Bailey (ninth overall in 2008), John Tavares (first overall in 2009), Nino Niederreiter (fifth in 2010), Ryan Strome (fifth in 2011), and Griffin Reinhart (fourth in 2012).