Draft lottery chaos a nightmare for NHL
Red Wings the big loser of the night with first overall pick still up for grabs
Hold onto those lottery tickets.
The NHL held its annual draw to determine the order for its 2020 entry draft on Friday night. But as of yet, no one has claimed the big prize.
The Los Angeles Kings, who finished with the fifth-worst record, moved up three spots and won the No. 2 pick, and the Ottawa Senators, who had a combined 25 per cent chance of ending up with the first overall selection because they owned two first-round picks, won the No. 3 pick (and also will pick fifth overall).
But as of now, we don’t know who will get the chance to select consensus No. 1 prospect Alexis Lafreniere.
In other words, the NHL has quite the mess on its hands.
“It’s been a unique year,” said deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “And we’ve had a unique draft lottery.”
Unique is one way to describe what happened on Friday night. This was chaos, pure and simple. This was also a nightmare where the league is concerned.
In an ideal world, the NHL would have held its NHL draft in Montreal on Friday night. Instead, we got the draft lottery. But we didn’t get many answers.
Instead, we were told: “To be continued …
Because a so-called “placeholder” won the No. 1 pick, the NHL will now hold a second draw sometime after the conclusion of the play-in round of the new 24-team post-season. The process is entirely new. And it’s a bit complicated.
Essentially, the eight teams that lose in the play-in round will be entered in another draw. Each will have equal (12.5 per cent) odds of winning.
That means that Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg could end up with the No. 1 pick if they don’t advance past the play-in round. The same goes for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had the seventh-most wins when the regular season was cancelled, if they lose to the Canadiens.
If anything, it should add an extra layer of intrigue to the already intriguing play-in round. Forget about who wins the Stanley Cup. Who gets Lafreniere will be just as suspenseful.
Imagine getting eliminated in what’s basically the first round of the playoffs, but then winning the top pick in the draft? That’s the kind of consolation prize the Tampa Bay Lightning wished was waiting for them last year.
It’s a lot better than the fate that Detroit received.
The Red Wings were without question the big loser on Friday night. They had an 18.5 per cent chance of winning the top pick after finishing last overall in the standings with just 17 wins this season. Combined, there was a 49.4 per cent chance they would end up with a top three pick. Instead, Detroit dropped three spots in the draft order and will pick fourth overall.
The NHL has to be similarly disappointed.
It would have been a lot simpler if the bottom three teams won the top three spots. That would have avoided the need for a second draw. It also would have avoided a situation where Lafreniere now has to wait another month or maybe more — depending on when, or if, the playoffs actually begin — to know which team he’ll be part of next year.
Instead, the world junior MVP and two-time CHL player of the year doesn’t have a clue what his future holds. He could be going to Pittsburgh or Chicago. Or he could be heading off to Edmonton. Oh man, imagine if it’s Edmonton and he’s playing on a line with Connor Mcdavid next year? Or on a line with Auston Matthews?
Whatever team ends up with him is getting a star on its hands.
Lafreniere, who scored 112 points in 52 games for the QMJHL’S Rimouski Oceanic, is in Mcdavid and Matthews territory when it comes to potential.
“We talk about Auston Matthews and he’s not far off from becoming that type of player,” said North American Central Scouting’s Mark Seidel.
With the draft initially planned to occur in Montreal, this should have been a special night for the native of Saint-eustache, Que. Rather, the waiting game continues.
The only question is how long we’ll have to wait before we get some sort of conclusion. And when and where are the playoffs starting?