The NHL's new live lottery format delivered its most dramatic moment yet, and the Toronto Maple Leafs — against all odds — were the ones left standing.
SECAUCUS, N. J. — I really didn't know what to expect. With so much riding on the Toronto Maple Leafs and their 2026 first-round draft pick, The Hockey News sought permission for me to attend the NHL draft lottery.
And I have to say, the NHL is onto something.
You'd be forgiven if you didn't know the process going in. Although the NHL has used a lottery of some kind for a couple of decades, the format has evolved over the years.
Last year, the league decided to make a dramatic change. Rather than holding the lottery in a pre-recorded setting with a dramatic reveal to follow, they decided to conduct the draw live. As each table tennis ball was drawn, Studio 21 at NHL Network displayed the live odds changing in real time.
"The sequestered one (the old format), you're tense," said Steve Mayer, the NHL's president of content & events. "Just being in the room, there's that moment where you're waiting for that last ball — and just knowing and feeling that, that felt like it needed to be live."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was initially skeptical but saw the value in the change.
"I gave him 10 reasons that we should be concerned, including what if the machine breaks," Bettman said. "And he said, 'No, no we're going to be fine.' He's the one who figured out how to make it an interesting and compelling show."
There was a backup machine on-site if a failure were to occur, although it wasn't needed on Tuesday.
The NHL went through eight rounds of rehearsals over a two-day span to make sure everything went off without a hitch. The only change in this second iteration of the live format was that they showed the second selection live, as opposed to running it in the background during interviews with winning clubs.
None of the teams eligible for the lottery had representatives in attendance. The Vancouver Canucks, which entered the lottery with the best chances at landing the No. 1 pick, had their social team on hand, but they departed quickly after falling to the worst-case scenario at the No. 3 spot.
Standing behind the cameras, I watched the process unfold, and it was exciting.
As the balls came up, the live odds changed in real-time. That element was necessary; otherwise, the live format just wouldn't work.
"We worked with SNT, which is the group that is the foundation behind Edge and player and puck tracking," Mayer said. "They came up with something where this is all interfaced and automatic. The odds change, and it's pretty incredible what they can do on the fly."
As each ball came out, the tension rose.
The Leafs started with one of the lowest chances at winning the lottery at 4.5 percent, but they jumped to a 9.1 percent chance after three balls were drawn (with only 11 balls remaining).
A collective gasp could be heard in the studio (including from me) as the Leafs were revealed to be the winner.
It really is an exciting format, and the NHL has found something special here.
It is encouraging to see that they are open to evolving the concept even further. Imagine hearing the roar of a fan base if this were held at a live venue.
While it could eventually become a live stadium show, for now, it is a television special that was definitely a must-see. It's transparent, it's dramatic for teams that didn't make the playoffs, and it's fun TV. In that way, everybody wins.
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