The regular season is over and for the first time in NHL history there are 15 teams on the outside of the playoff picture. For those squads and their fans, it’s a long wait for anything positive to come, with the 2018 NHL Entry Draft more than ten weeks away, scheduled for June 18th, and the start of free agency another two weeks after that. However, the odds for this year’s NHL Draft Lottery are now set and teams can at least look forward to the ping pong balls being drawn at the end of the month, on Saturday, April 28th. With the teams in the running now set, here are the odds for the #1 overall pick in this years draft:
31st – Buffalo Sabres: 18.5%
30th – Ottawa Senators: 13.5%
29th – Arizona Coyotes: 11.5%
28th – Montreal Canadiens: 9.5%
27th – Detroit Red Wings: 8.5%
26th – Vancouver Canucks: 7.5%
25th – Chicago Blackhawks: 6.5%
24th – New York Rangers: 6.0%
23rd – Edmonton Oilers: 5.0%
22nd – New York Islanders: 3.5%
21st – Carolina Hurricanes: 3.0%
20th – New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames): 2.5%
19th – Dallas Stars: 2.0%
18th – Philadelphia Flyers (from St. Louis Blues (top-ten option)): 1.5%
17th – Florida Panthers: 1.0%
If you are a fan of one of these teams, you can entertain yourself for the next few weeks with this Lottery Simulator from Tankathon.com.
Did the lottery simulator 1 time and the Oilers got #1 pick. Smh
Hah, one spin, Hawks win. Done here :)
I had St. Louis get the #1 on my first spin. 1.5% chance. Could you imagine?
So this is gonna sound dumb, if pick 14 was the pick that the Flyers got from St. Louis, and it moves up the draft lottery, why is the simulator apparently awarding it back to the Blues? or was that part of the conditions of the trade?
The Blues’ first-round pick is top-10 protected. Should it fall in the top 10 this year (by virtue of winning one of the lottery spots) St. Louis has the option to give the Flyers their 2019 first round pick instead. If they choose to do this, they also must surrender a 2020 third-rounder.
So the NHL is going to go all out with this must-see extravaganza and captivate fans with (insert drum roll here) ping pong balls. I hope I have time to purchase an oxygen cylinder in case the excitement gets too much for my heart. 18 days of anticipation left and I’m already getting goosebumps!
Vancouver won the top pick in my sim, followed by Edmonton and the NY Islanders. Poor Buffalo.
The worst 10 teams should be the only ones in the lottery with much higher odds for the worst team. Colorado got royally screwed last year after setting records for being bad