At first, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson didn’t give much thought to the NHL draft lottery. But once he allowed himself to consider it, his face lit up with excitement about what could happen! He said, “The top of the draft is very good. It definitely has something special!”
Ping-pong balls are really helpful because they can help some NHL teams have a much better season. For example, if you get the no. 1 or 2 pick, then you might get Connor Bedard who is ranked No.1 overall or Adam Fantilli from University of Michigan which would give that team a huge boost in their game. Matvei Michkov and Leo Carlsson are also likely to be high picks by any team!
If you win one of the top spots in the upcoming May 8 lottery, you could get free agency to fast track your team rebuilding. Plus, if you take a risk and add Michkov – who is still with his Russian team as of now – to your team, then it might result in getting another top draft pick in 2024.
The 2020 season was extra interesting because of Bedard and Fantilli’s great talent that kept cropping up even though some teams were at the bottom of the standings.
Anaheim (23-47-12) had their worst season ever, losing their last 13 games. They have a 25.5% chance of getting the best player in the next draft, and they’re sure of a top 3 spot. However, General Manager Pat Verbeek is telling people not to expect too much from whoever they pick in the lottery.
On Friday he said, “I won’t tell players to rush and do things they’re not ready for, just so they can be in the NHL quicker.” On Friday night, Columbus lost 5-2 against Buffalo which gave them a 13.5% chance of getting the first pick. Chicago had the second-best odds with 26-49-7 and finished their season with a 5-4 overtime loss against Philadelphia.
San Jose has lost their last six games and only have a 9.5% chance of winning the lottery. Montreal is second with 8.5%, and Arizona is third with 7.5%. Earlier, Chicago had a lot of success when they won three Stanley Cup titles, which was helped by getting two great players in Jonathan Toews (who was picked 3rd) and Patrick Kane (who was the 1st pick overall).
John Davidson, the head of the team, recently said they won’t be re-signing Toews this summer after Kane was traded to New York. The upcoming lottery could send a really good player to an old hockey team that needs some more talent. “At the moment, our team is full with good players and we can’t afford passing up on any talented player because our main focus it get as many high-quality players as possible for our team,” said Davidson.
Greg Beacham, a sports writer located in Irvine, California, helped make this report. If you want to get more updates on Greg and other Sports news, you can follow Jay Cohen’s Twitter (@jcohenap) or the NHL Zone (NHLZonecom or AP_Sports).
