The New Jersey Devils have won the 2017 NHL Draft Lottery, and the right to the first overall pick. It was a night of surprises with all three of the top selections going to teams who came into the night with only small chances of moving up. The lottery, conducted by NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, took place on Saturday evening in Toronto.<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia Flyers won the second overall pick, and the Dallas Stars\u00a0have the third overall pick. The rest of the first round will proceed in the following order:<\/p>\n
4.) Colorado Avalanche
\n5.) Vancouver Canucks
\n6.) Vegas Golden Knights
\n7.) Arizona Coyotes
\n8.) Buffalo Sabres
\n9.) Detroit Red Wings
\n10.) Florida Panthers
\n11.) Los Angeles Kings
\n12.) Carolina Hurricanes
\n13.) Winnipeg Jets
\n14.) Tampa Bay Lightning
\n15.) New York Islanders<\/p>\n
Currently, Nolan Patrick<\/strong> of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings is expected to be the first overall pick, topping the NHL Scouting Service’s final rankings<\/a>. Halifax’s Nico Hischier<\/strong>\u00a0ranks second, with the 2016-17 Minnesota Mr. Hockey winner\u00a0Casey Mittelstadt<\/strong> third. Top-ranked defensemen include Cale Makar<\/strong> of the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits and Juuso Valimaki<\/strong> of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. Klim Kostin\u00a0<\/strong>and Elias Pettersson\u00a0<\/strong>are the top European forwards; while Timothy Liljegren<\/strong> and Miro Heiskanen<\/strong> are the top European defencemen.<\/p>\n