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NHL sets date for draft lottery, announces odds for teams
The Colorado Avalanche will have an 18.0 percent chance to win the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL draft lottery.
On Tuesday, the league sent out odds for their draft lottery, which will take place on April 29 in Toronto with the Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks having the best and second best odds, respectively, of landing the No. 1 pick. The Arizona Coyotes and expansion Vegas Golden Knights are tied for the third-best odds. The Avalanche finished a league-worst 30th in the standings this past season with the Canucks at 29th and the Coyotes 28th. Colorado held the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and selected Nathan MacKinnon.
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The draft will be held June 23 and 24 at the United Center in Chicago. Here are each team’s chances of landing the top pick:
Colorado Avalanche 18.0 %
Vancouver Canucks 12.1 %
Vegas Golden Knights 10.3 %
Arizona Coyotes 10.3 %
New Jersey Devils 8.5 %
Buffalo Sabres 7.6 %
Detroit Red Wings 6.7 %
Dallas Stars 5.8 %
Florida Panthers 5.4 %
Los Angeles Kings 4.5 %
Carolina Hurricanes 3.2%
Winnipeg Jets 2.7%
Philadelphia Flyers 2.2%
Tampa Bay Lightning 1.8%
New York Islanders 0.9%
Below is the NHL’s explanation of how the lottery will work:
The 2017 NHL Draft Lottery will consist of three drawings: the 1st Lottery Draw will determine the club selecting first overall, the 2nd Lottery Draw will determine the club selecting second overall and the 3rd Lottery Draw will determine the club selecting third overall.
Participants in the Draft Lottery include the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who begin play in the 2017-18 season, and all other Clubs that did not qualify for this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs (or Clubs that acquired the first-round picks of those non-Playoff Clubs).
The Golden Knights will be afforded the exact same lottery odds as the team finishing the regular season in 28th place — or with the third-worst regular-season record. They will be guaranteed no lower than the sixth overall selection.
To accommodate the addition of a 15th team in the Draft Lottery, the odds for all other participating teams have been reduced proportionally from the odds utilized in last year’s Draft Lottery.
Last season the Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery with 20 percent odds and took Auston Matthews with the No. 1 overall pick. The Buffalo Sabres also had a 20 percent chance win the lottery in 2015 but lost to the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton had an 11.5 percent chance to win the lottery and took Connor McDavid with the No. 1 pick.
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The NHL’s Central Scouting bureau recently released its rankings with forward Nolan Patrick listed as the top skater available for the draft. Nico Hischier, another forward, was slotted at No. 2.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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