Draft Lottery Preview

Quick lottery Preview 

In only a couple of hours the Draft lottery will go and we will figure out which team will be lucky enough to draft the consensus number one pick Connor Bedard in June, so I am just going to preview it really quickly here.

So the lowest 11 teams standings wise will all have a shot to get the 1st overall pick in this years draft and all 16 teams who missed the playoffs are going to have at least a tiny shot to move up in the draft, although 12-16 don’t get a shot at the 1st overall pick, now the three teams with the best odds to win the draft this year are the Anaheim Ducks who finished dead last in the NHL this year with 58 points, and then the Jackets have the 2nd best odds and the Hawks with the 3rd as both those teams finished with 59 points on the year. 

So here are the odds for the 11 teams to get the 1st overall pick:

 

Anaheim 25.5%

Columbus 13.5% 

Chicago 11.5%

San Jose 9.5%

Arizona 8.5%

Montreal 7.5% 

Philadelphia 6.5%

Washington 6% 

Detroit 5%

St.Louis 3.5% 

Vancouver 3%

And here are the odds for all 16 teams to move up in the lottery:

Anaheim 18.5%

Columbus 13.5% 

Chicago 11.5%

San Jose 9.5%

Arizona 8.5%

Montreal 7.5% 

Philadelphia 6.5%

Washington 6% 

Detroit 5%

St.Louis 3.5% 

Vancouver 3%

Ottawa* 2.5%

Buffalo 2%

Pittsburgh 1.5%

Calgary .5%

Nashville .5%

(*) Ottawa’s pick will go to Arizona unless the Sens win a lottery spot and move their pick up to a top 5 selection. 

Now the NHL recently changed the ways they did the draft lottery, as the NHL went from having the top 3 spots available in the draft lottery to just two in the 2021 lottery, and then last year the new rule came in that only the top 11 teams would have a shot at getting 1st overall, so since these changes the NHL has done two lottery’s, 2 years ago in the 2021 lottery Buffalo had the best odds to get 1st overall and were able to hang on and draft Owen Power, with Seattle leapfrogging Anaheim and going from 3 to 2 and drafting Beniers, and then last year the Canadiens had the best odds to select with the first overall pick, and once again the team with the best odds retained the 1st overall pick and they were able to draft Slafkovsky 1st overall, and the big surprise was that the New Jersey Devils were able to jump up 3 spots, as they had the 5th best odds to get a lottery win and they leapfrogged Philly, Seattle and Arizona to jump from 5 to 2 and selected Nemec second overall, so they were lucky enough to jump up, so so far since the lottery rule change both teams who had the best odds to take number 1 overall did while the teams who had the second best odds fell, so if that keeps up then the Ducks could retain the 1st overall pick while the Jackets might be bounced from selecting 2nd, but it is a new year and we will have to see who is lucky enough to win the lottery and get the 1st and 2nd overall picks.

And finally here are the 11 teams who have a shot to get the 1st overall pick and when they last drafted 1st overall

Anaheim 

Last drafted 1ST overall: NEVER 

The Ducks have never drafted 1st in their 30 year existence although they have drafted 2nd overall a couple of teams and drafted 10th overall last year.

Columbus 

Last drafted 1ST overall: 02 R.Nash

The Jackets have taken home the 1st overall pick once before, selecting Rick Nash in the 2002 draft and Nash became a great Jacket player, and they will be looking to get 1st again after drafting 6th last year with the Blackhawks pick.

Chicago 

Last drafted 1ST overall: 07 P.Kane

The Hawks have drafted 1st overall a couple of times but their most recent one was someone they just traded before this years deadline as they took Patrick Kane 1st overall in the 2007 draft and will look to draft 1st again after acquiring Ottawa’s first round pick last year and selecting 7th.

San Jose 

Last drafted 1ST overall: NEVER 

Ever since the Sharks became a NHL team in 1991 they have never had the honour of drafting 1st overall, and although they have had some high picks before, they will look to get the 1st overall pick for the 1st time in history after picking trading down and picking 27th last year.

Arizona 

Last drafted 1ST overall: (WIN 1981) D.Hawerchuk

Now the Coyotes used to be the old Winnipeg Jets team and that Jets team picked 1st overall all the way back in 1981 taking a really great player in Dale Hawerchuk, but during their tenure in Arizona they have never picked 1st overall and will hope to get it today after they picked 3rd overall last year.

Montreal 

Last drafted 1ST overall: 22 J.Slafkovsky 

Now you don’t have to look to far back to see when the Canadiens have drafted 1st overall, as even though they are a original six team and have drafted 1st a few times, just last year they were lucky enough to come away with the 1st overall pick and draft  Juraj Slafkovsky and they will look to have back to back 1st overall picks for the first time since Edmonton had 3 straight 1st overall picks from 2010-12.

Philadelphia 

Last drafted 1ST overall: 75 M.Bridgman

Now the Flyers have at this point in time never drafted 1st overall with their own draft selection but in the 1975 draft they did traded up to select 1st overall Mel Bridgman after they dealt with Washington to get the 1st overall pick, but they will be looking to use their own pick to select 1st overall this year after selecting 5th last year.

Washington 

Last drafted 1ST overall: 04 A.Ovechkin 

Now the Caps have had a couple of first overall draft picks in their existence but I don’t think any have been better then their last 1st overall draft pick and that was back in 2004 when they took Ovechkin 1st overall and now he is hot on Gretzky’s heels for the all time goal leader, so the Caps will hope to get 1st overall after taking the 20th pick last year. 

Detroit 

Last drafted 1ST overall: 86 J.Murphy

Now the Wings on multiple occasions have been lucky enough to draft 1st overall but haven’t done it since they took Joe Murphy 1st overall all the way back in 1986 and even though the odds aren’t in their favour in this draft they will look to take home the 1st overall selection after drafting 8th last year. 

St.Louis

Last drafted 1ST overall: 06  E.Johnson 

Now the Blues have had a couple of 1st overall picks in their team history but the most recent one is still playing in the NHL as they took Erik Johnson 1st overall in 2006 and he has been a tremendous defensemen especially in Colorado even though he is more of a 3rd pair defensemen now but the Blues will be hoping luck is on their side and they get the 1st overall draft pick after selecting 23rd last year.

Vancouver 

Last drafted 1ST overall: NEVER 

And finally with the team that has the smallest odds to win the lottery, and the Canucks have surprisingly in their over 50 year history have never picked 1st overall as they were lucky to pick 2nd a couple times, even selecting 2nd and 3rd in 1999 to take the Sedin twins but they will be hoping to get the 1st overall pick this year to bring Vancouver native Connor Bedard to Vancouver after selecting 15th in last years draft.

So I hope and wish everyone’s team that they do good in the lottery, and I will be recapping the lottery and giving my thoughts and maybe even a mock draft on my YouTube channel the End to End Hockey Channel, and I can’t wait to see which team comes out on top in the draft lottery.