There is absolutely no question about it, the Detroit Red Wings are by far the worst team in the NHL and barring a miracle, they will easily finish the season with the fewest amount of points in the league.
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Because of that, one would think that the Red Wings will automatically have the best odds of landing the No. 1 pick when the NHL Draft Lottery is held.
But that will likely not be the case, even though the Wings will have an 18.5% chance of landing the No. 1 pick.
That’s because the Ottawa Senators, who currently have the third-worst record in the NHL, also own the rights to the San Jose Sharks pick and the Sharks are currently sitting with the fifth-worst record in the league.
As you can see below in the image from Tankathon.com, the No. 3 slot has an 11.5% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick, while the No. 5 slot has an 8.5% chance of winning the Draft Lottery. That means that if the standings remain how they are (not a guarantee), the Senators would actually have a 20% chance of getting the No. 1 pick, which would be higher than the Red Wings 18.5% chance.
Despite having the worst record in the league by far, the odds are still stacked against the Red Wings to get the No. 1 pick. That being said, after the suffering we have all gone through this season, it sure would be fun to be first on the clock when the NHL Draft begins!
