The 2025 NHL Draft class includes many outstanding players, including Ellie Otters defender Matthew Schaefer, Saginaw Spirit Center Michael Meesa and Boston College Center James Hagens.
But the No. 1 pick isn’t just going to the team with the worst regular season record. Instead, the lottery determines the final order of the first 16 picks of the first round.
Check out the minutes for Monday Night (7 ET, ESPN) and read more Intel on how this works.
Why are there draft lottery tickets?
The lottery offers multiple non-playoff teams the opportunity to win a No. 1 pick. This is an important consideration given the premium value of the early first round pick. In theory, this also reduces the sense that a particular team is not doing their best to put a competitive lineup on the ice (to put it charity).
Plus, between the end of the regular season and the draft lottery, it adds extra excitement to half of the league’s fanbase.
How does the actual lottery work?
A set of 14 ping pong balls is placed on the lottery machine, allowing 1,001 combinations. Each lottery team is assigned a random set of No. 4 combinations. The worse the team records, the more combinations they are assigned. So, the San Jose Shark, the worst-recorded team of this past season, has won 185, with a 18.5% chance of winning the first lottery.
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Accounting firms carry out the league process, keeping tabs lined up for each team in each combination. There is also one combination that will be removed from the lawsuit (it will be 1,000 instead of 1,001).
The first draw for Ping Pong Balls will determine the No. 1 pick based on the assigned combination. However, a set of rules will change in 2021, allowing teams to raise up to 10 spots in order. So SpotNos. If a 12-16 team wins the first draw, they will rise accordingly, and the team will be number one in the lowest slot in the ranking (sharks in this year).
Next, there is a second draw to decide on the next spot, using rules similar to the first one. Similarly, SpotNos. Teams 13-16 can still only move up 10 slots. So it will rise accordingly and the next available team in the ranking will pick No. 2.
Regardless of which team wins the draft lottery draw, the round 2-7 pick is in reverse order of final placement after the playoffs.
Special Wrinkle for 2025: For the first time, draws will occur live on the broadcast. This means that fans can experience all the drama in real time.
Which team has the best chance to win a draw this year?
Here is the complete list of each club’s draft lottery opportunities:
1. San Jose Sharks: 18.5%
2. Chicago Blackhawks: 13.5%
3. Nashville Predators: 11.5%
4. Philadelphia Flyers: 9.5%
5. Boston Bruins: 8.5%
6. Seattle Kraken: 7.5%
7. Buffalo Sabres: 6.5%
8. Anaheim Ducks: 6.0%
9. Pittsburgh Penguin: 5.0%
10. New York Islanders: 3.5%
11. New York Rangers: 3.0%
12. Detroit Red Wings: 2.5%
13. Columbus Blue Jacket: 2.0%
14. Utah Hockey Club: 1.5%
15. Vancouver Canucks: 0.5%
16. CalgaryFlames*: 0.5%
*Please note that Flames’ first round pick in this draft belongs to the Montreal Canadiens as part of the 2022 Shawn Monaghan trade. The picks are protected in the top 10 so if the flame wins the lottery and rises to sixth place, they will keep the pick and Montreal will get a first-round pick for the Florida Panthers (also owned by the flame as part of the Matthew Kachuk trade).
Are there any other rules I need to know?
As part of the 2021 lottery rules change, the NHL also stipulated that teams cannot win lottery tickets more than once in five years (starting with the 2022 lottery).
The Shark won the lottery last year, so if they do it again this year, they won’t be able to do it until 2029.
