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Alexis Lafreniere Sweepstakes: NHL Sets Time for Phase 2 Draft Lottery

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Alexis Lafreniere NHL Draft Lottery
Alexis Lafreniere: Photo Courtesy of QMJHL

Eight teams will have an equal 12.5% chance at the NHL consensus top overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere. The NHL announced on Thursday morning the Phase 2 Draft Lottery will take place Monday evening, at 6 p.m.

The eight teams which will have a chance at the top overall pick are the eight teams that lost the Qualifying Round series. Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers are infamous lottery winners and could be in the lottery. The Penguins won the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes in 2005, while Edmonton won several top overall picks before landing Connor McDavid five years ago.

Neither the Penguins nor the Edmonton expected to be in the lottery but both are facing 2-1 series deficits to underdogs and elimination games on Friday.

The NHL Draft Lottery had two tiers this season because of the COVID-19 season pause and 24-team NHL Return to Play. The NHL took away guaranteed playoff spots from teams such as the Penguins and Edmonton which finished in third place of their division, and potentially removed non-playoff teams such as Montreal Canadiens from the lottery, so the league and NHLPA agreed to classify Qualifying Round losers as non-playoff teams and thus are eligible for the lottery.

Since the original lottery was held in June before any teams played, the league used “placeholder” cards, such as Team A, Team B (and so on), in addition to the seven other teams which did not qualify for the Stanley Cup tournament.

Team A won the lottery, so the eight Qualifying Round teams which lost will participate in the Phase 2 lottery. One team will get the top overall pick, presumed to be Lafreniere, and the others will be seeded in the top 15 teams, based on their record. The Penguins would have the 15th overall pick if they do no win the lottery.

Another Penguins note, the team traded its first-round pick to the Minnesota Wild as part of the Jason Zucker deal. The pick was lottery protected, but it is yet unclear if the Penguins could keep the 15th overall pick and surrender their 2021 pick, or if the 2020 15th overall pick would be ceded to Minnesota.

The event will be hosted by Jamie Hersch of the NHL Network. An interview with Alexis Lafreniere is also scheduled to air as part of the broadcast on NBCSN and NHL Network.

All participants will be represented in the lottery machine by one ball with their team logo.

The order of selection for the first 15 drafting positions in the First Round, only, of the 2020 NHL Draft currently is:

  1. TBD*

  2. Los Angeles Kings

  3. Ottawa Senators (from SJS)

  4. Detroit Red Wings

  5. Ottawa Senators

  6. Anaheim Ducks

  7. New Jersey Devils

  8. Buffalo Sabres

  9. TBD*

  10. TBD*

  11. TBD*

  12. TBD*

  13. TBD*

  14. TBD*

  15. TBD*

  • To be determined by Phase 2 of 2020 NHL Draft Lottery

The remaining 16 selections for the First Round (#16-31) will be determined by the results of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.