NHL Draft Lottery 2024: Date, Odds, Projected Order, Latest Regular-Season Standings
Jake RillApril 17, 2024NHL Draft Lottery 2024: Date, Odds, Projected Order, Latest Regular-Season Standings0 of 3
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The field for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs is now set. On Tuesday night, the Washington Capitals clinched the final available postseason berth, seizing the second Eastern Conference wild card with a victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Now that we know which 16 teams are heading to the playoffs, we also know which 16 will be participating in the draft lottery in May. Eleven of those franchises will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, some with better odds than others.
The top selection in the draft has belonged to five different teams over the past five years. In 2023, the Chicago Blackhawks used the No. 1 pick on Connor Bedard, and they’ll have an opportunity to land the selection in the draft lottery again this year.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming draft lottery and draft, along with a look at the current NHL standings and odds as the regular season winds down.
NHL Draft Lottery Info1 of 3
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2024 NHL Draft Lottery
There is not yet a set date and time for this year’s draft lottery. However, it will occur in early May.
2024 NHL Draft
When: Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29
Where: Sphere in Las Vegas
Current NHL Standings2 of 3
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Eastern Conference Playoff Matchups
Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders
Western Conference Playoff Matchups
Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Winnipeg Jets vs. Colorado Avalanche
Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators
Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
NHL Standings in Lottery Order
1. San Jose Sharks: 47 points
2. Chicago Blackhawks: 51
3. Anaheim Ducks: 57
4. Columbus Blue Jackets 66
5. Arizona Coyotes: 75
6. Montreal Canadiens: 76
7. Ottawa Senators: 78
8. Calgary Flames: 79
9. Seattle Kraken: 79
10. New Jersey Devils: 81
11. Buffalo Sabres: 84
12. Minnesota Wild: 87
13. Philadelphia Flyers: 87
14. Pittsburgh Penguins (pick goes to San Jose Sharks): 88
15. St. Louis Blues: 91
16. Detroit Red Wings: 91
Current Lottery Odds3 of 3
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The Sharks will have the best odds of landing the No. 1 pick, as they’ll have a 25.5 percent chance to do so. If San Jose is lucky, it will have the top selection in the draft for the first time in franchise history.
It would be a huge boost for the Sharks to come away with forward Macklin Celebrini, the consensus top player in the 2024 draft class. The Boston University standout will likely go No. 1 regardless of which team owns the selection.
The Blackhawks will have a 13.5 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick. They could be the first team to pick first in consecutive years since the Oilers owned the top selection three straight years from 2010-12.
The only other team with a greater than 10 percent chance of landing the top pick will be the Anaheim Ducks (11.5 percent). Like the Sharks, the Ducks have never won the lottery and had the opportunity to pick No. 1.
There are still some shakeups that could occur in the NHL standings over the next two days that will affect the lottery odds. However, it’s locked in that the Sharks, Blackhawks and Ducks will have the best chances at No. 1, in that order.
For complete pick-by-pick odds at this point, visit Tankathon.com.
Only nine NHL franchises have never earned the No. 1 pick, and that group includes the Golden Knights (who joined the league in 2017) and the Kraken (who joined the league in 2021). The Blue Jackets and Flyers have each used the No. 1 selection, but they acquired the pick via trades.
Celebrini has the potential to become a top-tier player in the league. So whichever NHL team gets the opportunity to draft him, they could be getting a future star.