The NHL Draft Lottery gods have spoken, and they haven't looked down favorably on the Detroit Red Wings.
Saturday night in Toronto, the NHL revealed the order for the 2017 NHL Draft. The Red Wings will pick 9th overall at this years draft, after falling 2 spots from their 7th worst record this season. It's disappointing that the Wings won't be picking in the top 5, or even in the top 7 which is where they should be picking. The only silver lining is that it's not a great draft year by any stretch of the imagination. There is no Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel or Auston Matthews or Patrick Laine. The consensus #1 pick is Nolan Patrick from the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (CHL). Although, he has a history of injury and isn't a lock as a top overall pick.
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The winners this year in the lottery were the New Jersey Devils, who moved up from #5 to #1 thanks to some lucky ping pong balls. Picking 2nd will be the Philadelphia Flyers, and 3rd will be the Dallas Stars.
The biggest losers are the Colorado Avalanche, who had an 18% chance to get the #1 pick in the draft but ended up with the 4th pick.
It's easily the most strange NHL Draft Lottery we've seen, mainly because the top 3 teams (NJ, PHI, DAL) are all teams who really don't deserve to get a top 3 pick. For example, Philly had a 2.2% to get the #1 pick, and they “settle” for #2. The expansion Vegas Golden Knights were guaranteed a top 6 pick, and #6 is exactly where they'll make their first selection.
Maybe Red Wing fans should take this 9th overall pick as an omen. #9 has always seemed to work out in Hockeytown.
The 2017 NHL Draft is scheduled for June 23rd of this year on NBCSN and CBC.
