The Detroit Red Wings would be the beneficiaries of the revised draft lottery the league suggested in a memo over the weekend, given that they are currently the team last in the NHL standings. Not only would they have the highest chance to win the lottery themselves, but with the winner only allowed to move up four spots Detroit would have a good chance at losing the lottery but maintaining their first-overall selection.
Travis Yost of TSN broke out the numbers today, showing how Detroit went from having a 51% chance of selecting fourth in the regular format to a 57% of selecting first in the revised one. That kind of change is huge for a club like Detroit who are looking for another star to build their next competitive team around. The entire set of odds is in Yost’s article, but it is important to note that this format has not yet been officially adopted by the league.
- MacKenzie Blackwood is scheduled to become a restricted free agent for the first time after this season comes to an end, but it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be a tough negotiation for the New Jersey Devils. The young goaltender told Mike Morreale of NHL.com that he loves playing in New Jersey and hopes the two sides “can figure something out” to keep him there for a long time. The 23-year old Blackwood posted a .915 save percentage in 47 appearances this season and looks to be the Devils’ starter for the foreseeable future.
- Edmonton isn’t the only western Canadian city that is offering to host games should the NHL resume this summer. Ryan Rishaug of TSN reports that Vancouver has also submitted a proposal to the league to be a host city. There is obviously nothing decided yet by the league on where games will be held should they be played at some point in the next few months.
There is no reason to revise the lottery rules other than to hand the top pick to a former flagship franchise that is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Cutting back on games, practices, the season, the playoffs, even the draft itself could all be explained to some degree by the current global situation.
Cutting back on the number of lottery balls they pull out of a hopper after already putting those balls into said hopper? No.
The only reason to change the rules now is to put their finger on the scale.
probably to prevent NJD from lucking into another #1.
It’s actually significantly more complicated than that.
You know Arizona is getting it with First-overall hall on their roster.
Should just let everybody have a shot at 1st pick. Full league lottery. Crosby 2.0