NHL Draft
NHL Draft Lottery Set; Penguins Odds for Top Picks
Mark your rebuild-loving calendars. The NHL announced Tuesday that the Draft Lottery will take place at their Secaucus studios on May 5.
The NHL inexplicably did not announce a time, but will do so later this week. The event will be televised at some point during the day or night by ESPN, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports.
The Pittsburgh Penguins finished with the ninth overall pick but could move up into one of the top two spots should they win either of the lotteries. The team will have two chances to advance upward in the selection order as the NHL now has separate lotteries to award the first and second overall picks. Of course, the Penguins could also fall one or two spots if teams behind them win the lotteries.
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All 16 non-playoff teams will participate in the lottery, but a team may only move up 10 spots. The Penguins also have a little more drama as part of next week’s lottery, as the New York Rangers owe them a first-round pick in either 2025 or 2026, as a result of the Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor trade (Vancouver acquired the Rangers’ pick via the J.T. Miller trade, then flipped it to the Penguins as part of the package for Pettersson and O’Connor). The 2025 pick is top 13 protected, so even if New York does not move up from their 11th overall spot in the lottery, they can choose to keep or cede the pick.
If New York keeps the 2025 pick, the 2026 pick would be unprotected.
Here are the lottery odds to win the first overall pick, and likely select Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
| San Jose Sharks |
18.5% |
| Chicago Blackhawks |
13.5% |
| Nashville Predators |
11.5% |
| Philadelphia Flyers |
9.5% |
| Boston Bruins |
8.5% |
| Seattle Kraken |
7.5% |
| Buffalo Sabres |
6.5% |
| Anaheim Ducks |
6.0% |
| Pittsburgh Penguins |
5.0% |
| New York Islanders |
3.5% |
| New York Rangers * |
3.0% |
| Detroit Red Wings |
2.5% |
| Columbus Blue Jackets |
2.0% |
| Utah Hockey Club |
1.5% |
| Vancouver Canucks |
0.5% |
| Calgary Flames ** |
0.5% |
By when do the Rangers have to decide?
3 days before draft
Would have been better off losing some of those games late in the season
I was on that train forever and was taking constant negatives. Winning those games amounted too….fill in the ______!
It is difficult to lose when your captain is Sidney Crosby.
I sure am glad we won all those meaningless games in April!
Get rid of the lottery altogether and go back to the time-honored tradition of tanking for the top pick. It was far more fun.
5%! Wow, that’s the same percentage we had for making the playoffs this year! Did we make it?
We’re due!
Could we get a list of players the Pens have a realistic chance of drafting? Who does the chat prefer drafting? Thank you!