Changes to draft lottery; two teams get shot at top pick
The NHL is instituting changes to the draft lottery that make it more difficult for the last-place team to drop out of the top three in the selection order.
Beginning with the 2021 draft, only the first two picks will be subject to the lottery instead of the top three, and no team can move up more than 10 picks. Starting in 2022, no team will be able to win the draft lottery — for either of the first two spots — more than twice in a fiveyear span.
Those changes were approved by the league’s Board of Governors and announced Tuesday. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said earlier this month that general managers were recently asked to review draft lottery policies with a vote pending among owners.
The tweaks were made after the Red Wings fell to the fourth pick in the 2020 draft despite finishing 23 points behind the 30th-place team.
Daly said “it’s more likely than not” the 2021 draft goes ahead as scheduled July 2324, despite questions from teams about moving it back with many eligible prospects not playing this season.
“It’s certainly an imperfect situation,” he said.
CANADIENS FORCED TO POSTPONE GAMES » The Canadiens have had their games through Sunday postponed.
The league made the announcement a day after the Canadiens’ game against the visiting Edmonton Oilers was postponed following the addition of Montreal forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to the NHL’s COVID protocol list.
It’s expected Montreal will be able to re-open their facilities for practice Monday pending COVID-19 test results over the next few days.
SHARKS FINED FOR INCIDENT VS. KINGS » The NHL fined Sharks forward Kurtis Gabriel and coach Bob Boughner after Monday’s pregame altercation with the Kings.
Gabriel was fined about $3,000 and Boughner docked $5,000, and the Sharks were also assessed a conditional fine of $25,000, which will be collected if there is any similar inappropriate behavior in the next year.
Gabriel cross-checked Kings defenseman Kurtis MacDermid in the back during warmups. The two then fought in the first period.
BLACKHAWKS 3, PANTHERS 2 » Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves, Patrick Kane had two assists and Chicago Blackhawks stopped a four-game slide by holding off Florida.
PREDATORS 2, RED WINGS 0 » Juuse Saros made 31 saves for his first shutout of the season and Nashville beat Detroit. Mikael Granlund and Mathieu Olivier scored for Nashville, which has won four of five.
DEVILS 4, FLYERS 3 » Michael McLeod, Kyle Palmieri, Yegor Sharangovich and Travis Zajac scored to lead New Jersey.
LIGHTNING 2, STARS 1 » Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his franchise-record 12th straight win as Tampa Bay edged Dallas.
COYOTES 5, AVALANCHE 4, OT » Arizona scored all three attempts in the shootout in a comeback win over Colorado.