NEWSLETTER
On Tuesday morning, the NHL Board of Governors reportedly approved changes to the NHL Draft Lottery starting this summer, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.
Source: the NHL's proposed draft lottery changes have received formal Board of Governors approval after voting has been completed. It's a done deal.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 23, 2021
We talked about the potential changes to the draft lottery process earlier this month and it appears some of those changes will go into effect for the upcoming 2021 NHL Draft lottery and some taking effect in 2022.
A recap of the changes coming to the lottery process:
•  The number of lottery draws goes from three to two, meaning the last-place NHL club from the regular season will pick no lower than third-overall. (Takes effect 2021)
•  Maximum number of spots a team is allowed to move up is now 10 spots. So only 11 teams can win the first-overall pick, instead of the previous 16 teams. (Takes effect 2022)
•  No team can win the draft lottery more than twice in a five year period. (Takes effect 2022)
In the past, the Chicago Blackhawks have benefitted mightily from the draft lottery. Chicago won the lottery in 1999, but could move up only a maximum of four spots, moving from eighth to fourth. They also won the lottery and the first-overall pick in 2007, drafting Patrick Kane.
The two most recent lottery picks for Chicago came in 2018 and 2019. Chicago fell from the seventh pick to the eighth pick, selecting Adam Boqvist in 2018, and moved from the tenth pick to the third pick, selecting Kirby Dach in 2019.
As it stands right now at the time of this writing, the Blackhawks would not be in this year’s draft lottery as they sit in fourth-place in the Central Division in a playoff spot based on points percentage.
