Here's How The NHL Draft Lottery Works: The Mechanics

Can the Blackhawks win the NHL draft lottery again? They did in 2007 when they finished with the fifth-worst record in the league (31-42-9, 71 points), but then moved up to the No. 1 overall pick and selected Patrick Kane.

Kane became the star everyone thought he could, maybe even exceeding expectations. The Blackhawks climbed quickly and won three Stanley Cups as one of the NHL's most exciting teams.

The 2023 NHL draft lottery, used to determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft, will be held Monday, May 8, at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio at 7 p.m. CT. It will be covered by ESPN in the U.S.

How It Works: Summarized from the NHL's Explanation to Media.

The 2023 lottery will consist of two drawings, with limits on both the number of selections the 32nd-ranked (worst, Anaheim) team from the regular season can fall in the draft order (no lower than third overall) and the number of selections a team can “move up” (10).

Thus, only the top 11 seeds in the 2023 draft lottery are eligible to receive the first overall selection in the 2023 NHL draft. The Blackhawks had the league's third-worst record (30^th) in 2022-23.

Participants in the lottery are all teams that did not qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs (or the teams that have acquired the first round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams). For each of the two drawings, 14 balls, numbered 1 to 14, will be placed in a lottery machine.

The machine randomly will select four balls. The resulting four-number series (without regard to selection order) will be matched against a chart that shows all possible combinations and the team to which each combination was assigned. The chart is available to media, but it’s insanely complicated.

The allocation of odds for the first draw of the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery is:

(Fewest Points to Most)

· Anaheim Ducks 18.5%

· Columbus Blue Jackets 13.5%

· Chicago Blackhawks 11.5%

· San Jose Sharks 9.5%

· Montreal Canadiens 8.5%

· Arizona Coyotes 7.5%

· Philadelphia Flyers 6.5%

· Washington Capitals 6.0%

· Detroit Red Wings 5.0%

· St. Louis Blues 3.5%

· Vancouver Canucks 3.0%

· Ottawa Senators* 2.5%

· Buffalo Sabres 2.0%

· Pittsburgh Penguins 1.5%

· Nashville Predators 0.5%

· Calgary Flames 0.5% *

Per a March 1, 2023, trade, the Ottawa Senators will transfer their first-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft to the Arizona Coyotes if it is not a top-five pick. If it becomes a top-five pick as a result of the 2023 NHL lottery, Ottawa will retain the pick and instead transfer to Arizona its first-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

BEYOND ROUND ONE

The odds for the remaining teams will increase on a proportionate basis for a second lottery draw based on which team wins the first lottery draw.

The 14 teams not selected in the 2023 NHL draft lottery will be assigned the remaining 2023 draft selections (among 1 through 16 in the first round), in inverse order of regular-season points.

The 2023 NHL draft will take place at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators, over two days. Round 1 will be held on Wednesday, June 28 (6 p.m. ECT, ESPN), followed by Rounds 2-7 on Thursday, June 29 (10 a.m. CT NHLN)

The 2023 NHL draft lottery marks the second year for the implementation of a limit on how many times a team can win a lottery. No single team can advance in the draft order by winning a lottery draw more than two times in any five-year period.

This limitation doesn’t affect a team’s ability to retain its presumptive draft position in any draft lottery. It also doesn’t preclude the possibility of the team moving down in draft order because other teams advance by winning the lottery.