Canucks, Golden Knights contenders for draft lottery
Vancouver to learn draft position today, will be no worse than 5th overall selection
As jackpots go in Las Vegas, George McPhee wouldn’t mind little lady luck being on the side of his Golden Knights expansion franchise when the NHL holds its draft lottery today.
“That would be so like Vegas in its first lottery, winning it,” the Golden Knights general manager said. “That would be something.”
The odds, aren’t that bad for a franchise preparing to open its first season in October.
The Golden Knights and desert rival Arizona Coyotes have each been awarded a 10.3 per cent chance of winning the lottery, giving them the third-best shot at landing the No. 1 pick in the draft in June.
The Colorado Avalanche have the best odds — with an 18 per cent chance — after finishing with the league’s worst record this season, followed by the Vancouver Canucks (12.1 per cent chance).
At worst, the Golden Knights will select no lower than No. 6.
“We’ll go in there having our fingers crossed,” said McPhee, who will attend the lottery drawing in Toronto. “This will be another first for us.”
McPhee can also attest to knowing how teams with the best odds don’t always win.
He was the Capitals general manager in 2004, when Washington won the lottery by vaulting from third to first to claim the right to draft Alex Ovechkin.
The Edmonton Oilers bucked the odds in 2015, when they also moved up from third to first and selected a generational talent in Connor McDavid.
Though there have been various formats since the NHL introduced the lottery in 1995, teams with the best odds have won it just seven of 21 times. That included last year, when the Toronto Maple Leafs retained the top pick to end a five-year run of last-place teams losing the lottery. They drafted rookie-of-the-year finalist Auston Matthews.
McPhee understands how a No. 1 pick has the best potential to spur a franchise’s growth — particularly a newcomer such as Vegas.
“Ovechkin’s done that for Washington, and McDavid and Matthews and Eichel,” he said, in reference to Sabres forward Jack Eichel, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft. “And they can really turn a town that isn’t already a hockey town into a hockey town.”
NHL Central Scouting ranks Nolan Patrick of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings as its top prospect. Swiss-born forward Nico Hischier is ranked second after earning Quebec Major Junior Hockey League rookie-of-the-year honours playing for Halifax.