You’re the GM of a foundering NHL team in mid-February, your club’s chances of making the playoffs are about as good as Sean Avery winning a congeniality competition and your franchise’s fandom is clamoring for trades before the deadline. What to do?
Naturally, you make inquiries and listen to all offers that will help your team in the long run. What you shouldn’t do is blow up the entire model based on the premise that finishing last overall is a guarantee of eventual salvation. Recent history suggests otherwise.
The “you gotta be bad to be good” approach has merit. It allows teams to acquire blue-chip young assets via the draft. But being the biggest loser and
Finishing last doesn't guarantee future success (The Hockey News) 
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