The Detroit Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention following Tuesday’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Even so, they were essentially a non-playoff team before the season started.
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“Lose for Hughes” is a popular mantra for Red Wings fans, meaning they hope to attain the best draft position possible to be able to select Jack Hughes, the record-breaking center who is expected to go No. 1 in next June’s NHL draft.
The NHL announced that the draft lottery will be held April 9 in Toronto, with the lottery results being revealed on the NBC Sports Network in the starting at 8:00 PM. Jack Hughes (U.S. National Team Development Program), Kaapo Kakko (Finland) and Vasili Podkolzin (Russia) are expected to be the top three draft picks.
Here’s a brief rundown of how the process will work, courtesy of MLive:
The draft lottery will consist of three drawings: The first lottery draw will determine the club selecting first overall, the second lottery draw will determine the club selecting second overall and the third lottery draw will determine the club selecting third overall.
The 12 teams that don’t draw into the top three will select fourth through 15th, in inverse order of points. So, the team with the fewest points can select no lower than fourth.
The 2019 NHL draft will take place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The first round will be held Friday, June 21. Rounds 2-7 will take place the following day.
BONUS CONTENT:
Fan sign beckons Steve Yzerman to save Red Wings
It’s pretty self-explanatory.
The Detroit Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season. Though most fans had given up on the notion of the Stanley Cup playoffs months ago, it was still a disappointing milestone for a team that had just spent 25 consecutive years playing for a chance to be the last team standing.
A long-time Red Wings fan who lives in Montreal attended Tuesday night’s game at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens brought a sign beckoning the former captain to save the team, much like he did with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Time for change.#LGRW #DETvsMTL pic.twitter.com/GiyP7tmpNc
— Peter Andrianopoulos (@peterandri) March 12, 2019
