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Back in June, a placeholder team won the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery. Tonight, we will know who will actually hold it. While the New Jersey Devils are not involved in this lottery, who will win this lottery could have an indirect impact on the Devils. The 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin tomorrow.
The Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery Information
The Time: 6:00 PM ET
The Place: The NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey
The Broadcast(s): TV - NBCSN, NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVA
The Expected First Overall Selection: Alexis Lafreniere is expected to be the first overall pick in 2020. He is a fantastic prospect with nothing else to prove in junior hockey. He could very well end up in the NHL right away. There will be an interview with him during the broadcast.
The Teams Involved: Our Hated Rivals, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, and the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Odds: Every team that was eliminated has a 12.5% chance of winning Phase 2 of the NHL Draft Lottery. It is that straight forward. Every team involved has a 1 out of 8 chance of getting the first overall pick.
The Approach: Per the league’s announcement, balls will be selected. The selected ball with the team logo wins the lottery. Per Greg Wyshynski, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is going to pull the winning ball right out of the machine live on the broadcast.
The Results for the Other Seven Teams: The seven teams that lose the lottery will pick ninth through fifteenth based on points percentage. The playoffs will determine spots #16 through #31, with the highest slot going to the team in the postseason with the worst points percentage. The Conference Finalists will be ordered by points percentage at 28th and 29th. The Stanley Cup Finalist will pick 30th. The Stanley Cup Winner will pick 31st. So the Devils are picking seventh overall - and their other two first rounders could still theoretically move.
The Devils Fan-Centric Preview: I wrote this preview yesterday complete with the current state of the Devils’ draft picks and a desirability ranking for who could win the lottery. I would prefer Lafreniere to go to a Western Conference team and I absolutely do not want Our Hated Rivals to win this lottery.
The Rules: Site rules apply as usual. This is an open post for the event, so feel free to discuss the Devils, the impending playoffs (they begin tomorrow), and your reactions to the lottery. Everyone please play nice with each other. Keep all comments clean, stream-less, and respectful. Go anyone but New York (and Pittsburgh and Toronto and maybe Florida, but seriously not New York)!