Chaos reigns at NHL Draft Lottery

The NHL had the first phase of its convoluted Draft lottery on Friday, and chaos did indeed reign. The Los Angeles Kings moved up two spots to secure the second pick, while the Ottawa Senators dropped into the third spot. However, the No. 1 pick was drawn as one of the teams set to take part in the Qualifying Round of the 2020 NHL Playoffs.

The second phase of the lottery will happen after the qualifying round and before the playoff bracket gets underway. Each of the eight qualifying teams will have a 12.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick.

The eight teams competing for the No. 1 pick include:

Montreal Canadiens
Chicago Blackhawks
Arizona Coyotes
Minnesota Wild
Winnipeg Jets
Florida Panthers
New York Rangers
Columbus Blue Jackets

The Detroit Red Wings had the best odds of claiming the No. 1 pick, but dropped to No. 4 in the lottery. The top three picks were determined by the lottery, with picks No. 4-8 determined by inverse order of record. Picks No. 9-15 will be assigned to the other teams that lose the eight qualifier series, in inverse order of their points percentage. Picks 16-31 will be determined by the results of the playoffs.

Here’s what the top eight spots in the draft order look like following phase one:

1. Placeholder team
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks)
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Buffalo Sabres