Steve, The only draft bonus that got nixed was the non-playoff bonus(NP) one that saw everyone on the team get +3 to stamina, shooting, and skating. Rest assured the Bottom 6(B6) bonus and the elusive Sidney Crosby(SC) are still available and will be awarded to you should you ever qualify for them.
I explained my reasoning for decision for dropping the NP bonus. While awarding and applying this particular bonus behind the scenes for the last 5-10 seasons, I was finding that too many teams were getting this bonus added to their roster when their team already had highly talented players. The original reason and purpose of this bonus was to boost teams who were lacking the talent to make the playoffs and to keep them competitive. Prior to the sim engine update, players on non playoff teams did not receive skill increases during the post season, while playoff bound teams did.
Also, the NP bonus was NOT intended to help and assist teams to build, save and bulk up their rosters so that they could eventually ice a team thats virtually unbeatable. While that may be and/or have been appealing for any GM who'd opt to use this strategy, it doesn't seem fair to everyone else. I am not saying you specifically were going to do this. We are all very smart sim owners and its only natural some of us will work within the rules to find ways to ice the best teams we can............my job as the commish/creator is to keep things enjoyable and fair for everyone, or at least most of the MLD, and sometimes that means tweaking a rule.
I'd like to also point out that not all teams were guilty of benefiting from this "non-playoff bonus loophole". Some teams legitimately were using this bonus to help their low-on-talent team.... but it is easier to nix the bonus completely than to police and monitor it and ultimately decide who should and shouldnt receive.
I really like your idea about a Competition Committee. :)