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NHL Draft Lottery set: Canadiens have best odds for top pick

draft lottery

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NHLI via Getty Images

The NHL announced the draft lottery odds on Sunday at the conclusion of the regular season, and the Montreal Canadiens will have the best odds (18.5 percent) at landing the top pick in the draft.

Sunday’s game between the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets had some lottery impact as Seattle’s place in the lottery was going to depend on their result. A win over Winnipeg would have pushed them into fourth place in the draft lottery and sent Philadelphia into the top-three. Seattle ended up losing to the Jets by a 4-3 margin.

The NHL Draft Lottery will take place on Tuesday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The 2022 NHL draft

Here are the complete draft lottery odds for the 2022 NHL draft.

There was a minor change to the draft lottery process this season that only allows for teams to move up 10 spots for winning the draft lottery, so only the top 11 teams have a chance to get the No. 1 overall pick in the draft (Montreal through San Jose are the teams eligible to get the top pick).

Montreal Canadiens: 18.5%
Arizona Coyotes: 13.5%
Seattle Kraken: 11.5%
Philadelphia Flyers: 9.5%
New Jersey Devils: 8.5%
Chicago Blackhawks*: 7.5%
Ottawa Senators: 6.5%
Detroit Red Wings: 6.0%
Buffalo Sabres: 5.0%
Anaheim Ducks: 3.5%
San Jose Sharks: 3.0%
Columbus Blue Jackets: 2.5%
New York Islanders: 2.0%
Winnipeg Jets: 1.5%
Vancouver Canucks: 0.5%
Vegas Golden Knights**: 0.5%

There are two picks (Chicago Blackhawks and Vegas Golden Knights) that have conditions attached to them, via the NHL:

* Under the terms of a July 23, 2021 trade, Chicago will transfer its 1st-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to Columbus if it is not a top 2 pick. If it becomes a top 2 pick as a result of the Draft Lottery, Chicago will retain the pick and instead transfer to Columbus its 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

** Under the terms of a Nov. 4, 2021 trade, Vegas will transfer its 1st-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to Buffalo if it is not a top 10 pick. If it becomes a top 10 pick as a result of the Draft Lottery, Vegas will retain the pick and instead transfer to Buffalo its 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

The 2022 NHL Draft will take place in Montreal with the First Round taking place on Thursday, July 7, and then the second through seventh rounds on Friday July 8, 2022. Shane Wright is expected to be the top pick in the draft.