NEWSLETTER
The 2024 NHL Draft Lottery is tonight! Which means we’ll find out, finally, which teams owns which pick(s) in this summer’s draft. Which general manager will shake hands with the presumed No. 1 overall pick, Macklin Celebrini? Which fan bases will jump for joy like the Blackhawks’ fans did last year? And will a front office and its fans be sad because another team jumped them in the draft order?
Broadcast Info
Puck Drop: 5:30 PM CT
TV: ESPN
What are the Blackhawks’ Odds?
Here are the final odds of teams winning each specific spot in the 2024 NHL Draft (thanks to Tankathon):
How the Draft Lottery Works
Based on the final standings, each team is assigned a random set of four-number combinations. A set of 14 pingpong balls are placed in a lottery machine, creating 1,001 total number combinations. Teams are assigned a certain number of combinations based on their placement in the standings; the worst team in the league, the San Jose Sharks this year, gets 185 combinations — an 18.5 percent chance of winning the first draw.
There were two important rule chances that went into effect in 2021. First, the most a team can move up in the draft is 10 spots. So teams in spots. Nos. 12-16 can win the lottery, but cannot own the No. 1 overall pick. The second doesn’t impact this specific lottery, but could next year: a team can only win the lottery twice in a five-year span (beginning with the 2022 NHL Draft). The Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks have won the top pick in the two lotteries under these rules. If either wins the lottery this year, they can’t win it again for 3-4 more years.
The lottery will have two drawings. The first determines the No. 1 overall pick (or the highest possible selection for the team that wins). The second determines the next highest pick; again with teams only able to move up a maximum of 10 spots.
The absolute worse-case scenario for the Sharks is the third overall picks. The Blackhawks, with the second-worst record in the league (and second-best odds of winning), cannot fall lower than fourth overall. Regardless of which teams win the draft lottery draws, picks in Rounds 2-7 are in reverse order of the final standings following the playoffs.
