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UPDATE: The New York Rangers secured the No. 1 pick in the lottery.
The NHL wrapped up the qualifying round of the restarted 2019-2020 season, and drops the puck on its 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, August 11th. However, there is an important piece of business to handle first. On Monday, August 10th, the NHL will close out its Draft lottery by determining the No. 1 pick. The lottery will take place at 6 p.m. ET and air on NBC Sports Network and NHL Network.
When the league unveiled its plans for restarting the season, it had to sort through how the draft lottery would work. The lottery started with phase 1 in which 15 teams competed for the No. 1 pick. The teams consisted of the bottom seven teams that did not make the playoffs and the eight teams in the qualifying round that would eventually be eliminated.
Phase 1 took place on June 26th and none of the seven non-postseason teams claimed the top pick. That meant one of the eight qualifying round teams would claim it. However, since we didn’t know which qualifying team rounds would be eliminated, the No. 1 pick became a place-holder until the qualifying round wrapped. Now that it’s completed, each of those eight teams has an equal, 12.5 percent chance of winning the lottery.
The teams eligible to win the No. 1 pick include the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets. The remaining eight teams will slot in starting at No. 9 overall in the first round.
The current draft order is as follows:
1. New York Rangers
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks)
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Buffalo Sabres