Devils buck odds to win NHL draft lottery

The New Jersey Devils bucked the NHL lottery odds, and lady luck wasn’t with Las Vegas.

New Jersey won the lottery, vaulting four teams including the last-place Colorado Avalanche and expansion Vegas Golden Knights for the right to the first pick in the draft.

The Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars both made huge jumps in winning the second and third lottery drawings on Saturday night. Given just a 2.2 percent chance of winning, the Flyers went from the 13th spot to second. The Stars moved from the eighth spot to third in a lottery process that scrambled the final standings.

Colorado entered with the best odds to win the lottery, but fell three spots and will select fourth.

The Golden Knights will select sixth, moving back three spots from where they were slotted. Vegas and its desert rival Arizona Coyotes were each awarded the third-best odds to win at 10.3 percent.

The seven-round draft will be held in Chicago on June 23 and 24.

NHL Central Scouting ranks Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nolan Patrick as its top drafteligible prospect even though he missed 35 regular-season and four playoff games due to injuries. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Patrick finished with 20 goals and 46 points in 33 games.

A year earlier, Nolan was named the Western Hockey League playoff MVP in leading Brandon to win its first title in 20 years.

Swiss-born forward Nico Hischier is ranked second after earning Quebec Major Junior Hockey League rookie-of-theyear honors playing for Halifax.

The lottery hasn’t been kind to teams finishing last.

This was the 11th time the team with the best odds failed to win.

This marks the first time the Devils have won the draft lottery since it was introduced in 1995.

The franchise has had the first pick once, in 1979, when the then-Colorado Rockies selected Rob Ramage.

Winning the lottery presents a big boost for a Devils team that’s missed the playoffs for a fifth straight season, and rebuilding under third-year general manager Ray Shero.

No team in the lottery has ever made a bigger jump than the Flyers.

The Devils won the lottery in 2011 despite having a 3.6 percent chance after finishing with the eighth fewest points. The Devils, however, could only jump four spots under the previous rules.