NHL Draft Lottery Rules, Need to Know Information
By Ryan Ritchie
NHL Draft Lottery Rules are Changing Slightly Once Again in 2016, All Your Need to Know Information
NHL Draft Lottery is set to take place tomorrow (Saturday, April 30th) prior to puck drop at 8:00 PM (EST) between Washington/Pittsburgh. The draw will be held in Toronto at the Canadian Broadcast Centre (CBC) with live coverage on CBC, NBC, and TVAS.
All 14 non-Playoff participants have an opportunity to not only win the first overall pick, but for the first time in history, a chance to grab a top three pick.
New NHL Draft Lottery Rules
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Teams are assigned a certain amount of four-number ball combinations based on their final standings. 1001 combinations exist (with one unassigned, which would trigger a re-draw). Toronto, who has the highest odds hold 200 (19.98 percent) of those 1001 combinations. The Oilers walk in with 135 (13.487 percent) different ball combinations.
Three separate draws will take place starting with in order from first to third. Odds can increase in different ways for the second and third pick depending on who wins.
A team can only drop as low as four spots. Although the Toronto Maple Leafs are at greater risk of dropping than say Buffalo who would need three unlikely teams to win top three selections.
The 11 clubs not selected are assigned draft picks based on inverse order of NHL regular season standings (lowest points).
*NHL.com outline of the rule changes this year
Toronto Maple Leafs – 19.98 percent 200 combinations
Edmonton Oilers – 13.487 percent 135 combinations
Vancouver Canucks – 11.489 percent 115 combinations
Columbus Blue Jackets – 9.491 percent 95 combinations
Calgary Flames – 8.492 percent 85 combinations
Winnipeg Jets – 7.493 percent 75 combinations
Arizona Coyotes – 6.494 percent 65 combinations
Buffalo Sabres – 5.994 percent 60 combinations
Montreal Canadiens – 4.995 percent 50 combinations
Colorado Avalanche – 3.497 percent 35 combinations
New Jersey Devils – 2.997 percent 30 combinations
Ottawa Senators – 2.498 percent 25 combinations
Carolina Hurricanes – 1.998 percent 20 combinations
Boston Bruins – 0.999 percent 10 combinations
More puck prose: Toronto Maple Leafs End of Year Review
NHL Draft Lottery: Need to Know
Three-Man Race
The 2016 Draft is top heavy with three standout prospects; Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, and Jesse Puljujarvi are likely to be taken 1-2-3 regardless of who wins the lottery. Each of them are capable of making an immediate NHL impact in the Fall.
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Canadian Teams Dominate Odds
After all seven teams failed to make the playoffs, Canada has roughly 68.5 percent chance of winning the first overall pick on Saturday night. As they collectively sit with five of the six highest sets of odds, there’s a chance Canadian teams dominate the draft lottery on Saturday night – dare we say sweep the top three?
Who Deserves to Win?
Buffalo Sabres – After walking in with the highest odds the past two years, only to lose both times, it would seem Buffalo deserves to be rewarded after falling just shy of Connor McDavid and Aaron Ekblad. Showing signs of improvement in 2015-16, imagine what a top three selection could do to help this franchise?
Arizona Coyotes – It would be like a script out of Hollywood, but oh how sweet it be. Could you imagine the Scottsdale, Arizona kid (Auston Matthews) going home to play for the Coyotes? If you want to sell hockey in the Desert, this is a great way to do it.
Next: NHL Mock Draft 4.0: Rounds 1-7
3 NHL Draft Lottery Predictions
1. A team with 5 percent or less (MTL, COL, NJ, OTT, CAR, BOS) wins one of the top three selections.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs win one of the top three selections.
3. Edmonton Oilers fall out of the top three.
Predicting the Order: 1. Columbus 2. Toronto 3. Winnipeg