The vast majority of Saturday’s focus was on the playoffs, but to some fan bases, the biggest wins came in defeat. The 2012 NHL Entry Draft lottery takes place on Tuesday, so if you want a rundown of the rules, click here. The actual positioning has been determined since then, though, so take a look at the rundown via NHL.com.
Odds of winning the draft lottery (Note: I put teams in the running for the first pick in bold) 1 - Columbus - 25.0% 2 - Edmonton - 18.8% 3 - Montreal - 14.2% 4 - NY Islanders - 10.7% 5 - Toronto - 8.1% 6 - Anaheim - 6.2% 7 - Minnesota - 4.7% 8 - Carolina - 3.6% 9 - Winnipeg - 2.7% 10 - Tampa Bay - 2.1% 11 - Washington (via COL) - 1.5% 12 - Buffalo - 1.1% 13 - Dallas - 0.8% 14 - Calgary - 0.5%
NOTE: No team can move up more than four spots, or move down more than one.
One could argue the most interesting scenario might be if the Washington Capitals’ 11th pick (via Colorado in that Semyon Varlamov trade) jumps all the way to the seventh one. Another interesting possibility might come if the lowly Edmonton Oilers receive a third consecutive first overall pick, which is only slightly less than a one-in-five chance.
Here’s a goofy but fun question to chew on: which of the bottom five teams “deserves” the No. 1 pick the most in your mind? Should the sad sack Blue Jackets get the blue chip to start a post-Rick Nash era? Would it be cool to see the Oilers get a trio of unos? How about giving the new Montreal Canadiens GM a great stuff with a first pick, the Islanders another boost in their rebuild or even the Maple Leafs a chance to shake off the Tyler Seguin talk?