How Does The NHL Draft Lottery Work 2025: Here's How New York Islanders Won
How Does The NHL Draft Lottery Work 2025: Here's How New York Islanders Won
With the postseason comes the NHL Draft Lottery. Teams figure out where they fall in the first 16 picks of the NHL Draft. Here's when to tune in.
Now that the end of the season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are here, the NHL Draft Lottery is the next stop.
New this year, the NHL Draft Lottery was televised as the league continues to work on enhancing the fan experience. The event revealed the winner of the first pick in the first round: the New York Islanders.
San Jose Sharks led the odds after the regular season with a 25.5% chance of winning the first pick.
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With the postseason comes the NHL Draft Lottery where teams figure out where they fall in the first 16 picks of the NHL Draft. Here's how it works.
When is The NHL Draft Lottery And How Does It Work
The NHL Draft Lottery was held on Monday, May 5 and broadcast on ESPN, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports starting at 7 p.m. ET. This was the first time that the draft lottery was televised live.
The broadcast included the drawing of the lottery balls. Participants included all 16 teams that did not make the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In short, the rules for the first round can be broken down as such:
- All teams that didn't make the playoffs (or teams that acquired their first-round picks) are included.
- There are two separate draws to determine the first and second overall picks.
- Teams can only move up a maximum of 10 spots. This means only the worst 11 teams have a shot at the first overall pick and the remaining worst 12 can get the second overall pick.
- 14 balls numbered 1 to 14 are used. Four will be drawn in each lottery.
- There are 1,001 possible combinations, but one specific combo (11-12-13-14) triggers a re-draw, leaving 1000 combinations.
- Each non-playoff team is randomly assigned a set of these four-number combinations. The same assignments are used for both lotteries.
After the first round, the draft order goes back to the reverse order of regular-season standings. If a team outside the bottom 11 wins the first draw, they will jump up 10 spots and the San Jose Sharks will get the first overall pick. Both picks are then locked for the second draw.
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