The National Hockey League held the 2016 Draft Lottery to
determine the selection order of the non-playoff teams for NHL Entry Draft in
Toronto, Ontario on Saturday night.
This year the draft lottery would determine which of the
bottom 14 teams would be lucky enough to slide all the way up to one of the first
three positions for the NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, New York on June 24 to June
25. The lottery was weighted based on how the non-playoff teams finished in the
standings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs won the rights to that first pick in
the draft. The Winnipeg Jets took home the second pick and the Columbus Blue
Jackets were awarded the third overall pick.
The Maple Leafs, who finished with the worst record during
the 2015-2016 season, had the best chance to win the draft lottery at 20 percent,
while the Boston Bruins, who just missed the post season had the lowest odds to
get one of the top three slots.
Three drawings were held, with each determining which team
would be the first overall pick, who would be the second pick and which club
would draft third. The remaining picks number four through 14 would then be
determined by the order in which they finished the season, with the lower seed
being slotted in the better positions.
Before revealing the winners of the top three slots, the
league opened the envelopes for spots four through 14, in reverse order. Spots
seven through 14 remained the same order where the teams were originally slated
to draw. As a result of the new format, the team with the worst record was no
longer guaranteed to get one of the top two picks.
Spots four through 14 went to, the Bruins (14), Carolina
Hurricanes (13), Ottawa Senators (12), New Jersey Devils (11), Colorado
Avalanche (10), Montreal Canadiens (9), Buffalo Sabres (8), Arizona Coyotes
(7), Calgary Flames (6), Vancouver Canuks (5) and Edmonton Oilers (4). These
results meant that the Oilers had slipped from the number two to the fourth
spot, the Canuks had dropped from three to five and the Flames fell from five
to six.
The league then revealed the winners of the top three spots,
in no particular order. Those teams turned out to be Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs
and Jets.
After a short break, the league then revealed that the Blue
Jackets had climbed up from the number four spot to the third and that the Jets
moved up four spots from number six all the way to the second overall. This
meant that the Maple Leafs had kept the number one spot that they held going
into the lottery.
The Maple Leafs had not drafted first overall, since the 1985
draft, when they chose Wendel Clark. They are also the first “Original Six” team
to get the number one pick, since 2007, when the Chicago Blackhawks drafted
Patrick Kane.
If the Leafs decide to choose Austin Matthews, a Scottsdale,
Arizona native, Central Scouting’s top rated international skaters, he will
become the first American born player since Kane to be a number one overall
selection. Matthews has been playing in the top professional league in Zurich,
Switzerland.
Maple Leafs President, Brendan Shanahan said, “He is obviously a player who has played a
lead role all his life. He has good size, he plays center and I feel like he
can score from the perimeter. But he also has the knack for going to the net and
banging some garbage goals home as well. He is definitely someone who has earned
the right to be where he is today.”
Shanahan also noted that he hopes Saturday’s results helps
offer added excitement and hope for Leaf’s Nation. He said, “I think there will be good presence in
Buffalo at the draft, our Leaf fans have been so supportive of what we have set
out and told them we would do.”
He added, “They have
showed up enthusiastically and to all the games, and even when I see them on
the street, they are behind us. They needed some good news and while there is
still work to be done, this was good news for them and they deserve it.”
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