The NHL has announced the odds for the Odds in this year’s Draft Lottery. The league also announced that the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery will take place on April 28th in Toronto. The draw will be overseen by KPMG.
The draft itself goes on June 22nd and June 23 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
NHL releases Draft Lottery odds.
Lottery takes place on April 28th. pic.twitter.com/eIxrUCWqev
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) March 28, 2018
Rules of the Draft Lottery
The 15 teams who don’t make the playoffs are eligible for the lottery. The team with the least amount of points has the best odds of winning the lottery. The remaining picks are determined by teams that get eliminated first, and then the lowest amount of regular season points. Teams that don’t sign their first-round draft pick in two years they will be awarded a compensatory second-round pick in the following year’s draft.
How The Odds Compare to Previous Years
The odds for the top three picks in this year’s draft are slightly higher than last years. This year’s odds for the first pick is 18.5 percent this year compared to 18 percent last year, the second pick is at 13.5 percent this year compared to 12.1 percent last year.
ln, last year’s lottery the New Jersey Devils were projected to have the fifth best odds at getting the number one pick and ended up winning the lottery. The Colorado Avalanche had an 18 percent chance at winning and ended up dropping down to 4th place.
Changes were needed as last year the expansion Vegas Golden Knights were given odds equal to the third last team in the NHL, where this year, we have a full 15 team lottery with all teams ranked on the basis of points.
Does Tanking Really Work?
Coming in last overall gives you the best chance at the first overall, but doesn’t always work, look at last year for example with the Devils. Fans are hoping for their teams to tank but why tank if you aren’t guaranteed a top spot. Teams that are out of playoff contention to give their younger players a chance to shine.
Rasmus Dahlin
The projected first-round pick for the year’s Draft is Sweedish defencemen Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin is praised as one of the best defence prospects in quite some time. For a full scouting report, check out Ben Kerr’s assessment here.
