Hence, the status quo. We cheer to lose. Once unheard of.
As for the random draw, us getting 31 and Nashville getting Dahlin,I have no issue with that in principle. The crap product we and other teams put out due to incompetent ownership does not deserve to be rewarded. And next year, the reverse might happen. That's the attraction of the random draw.
You are right, the next year the reverse might happen.
So the end result is what? After ten seasons, Nashville(For example)gets better, Montreal gets better, teams around us get better about the same amount due to every team getting approximately the same amount of talent coming into their organizations. So Montreal is stuck in the gutter because for every good player we get, every other team is probably getting the same amount regardless of where they finish, and a lot of the time we will be drafting late in the first round not helping the organization that is already bad get any better.
The system right now works. Teams that suck get the access to better players, and with some luck and good management, those shit teams become the Blackhawks and the Penguins. Once they become good, they no longer get access to those better young players making it harder and harder to maintain their elite squads, especially as the elite young talent they drafted get older and more expensive. Then, eventually, there comes a point where they get passed by the teams that sucked while they were good and the process begins anew.
And it's what, a 10 year cycle of being good if you're lucky? That gives hope to every team that they wont be stuck in the dumps forever, that eventually being bad, either by design or by piss poor management will eventually lead to a period of being good.
The only other system that really works is relegation. You suck, you get dumped down a tier and then you will generally do well at that lower level trying to make it back to the top tier. I personally don't want to see the NHL adopt a relegation style.