Here who has the best NHL Draft Lottery odds after the trade deadline
Some teams ramped up at the NHL Trade Deadline.
Others, well, ramped down.
And those that were sellers on deadline day will turn their attention not to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but instead to the NHL Draft Lottery — a weighted system to determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks of the 2025 NHL Draft.
The lottery involves clubs that did not qualify for the playoffs, as well as those teams who hold the rights to the first-round picks of non-qualifying squads.
Teams finishing last, 32nd overall, in the NHL at the conclusion of the regular season have a 25.5% chance of earning. The no. 1 pick in the 2025 draft. The team sitting at 31st holds a 13.5% chance at the top pick. Third-last, 30th overall, has an 11.5% shot at the pick.
A team can only move up a maximum of 10 spots from their finishing position, meaning only the bottom 11 teams have a shot at the No. 1 overall pick. Additionally, teams can only win the NHL Draft Lottery twice in a five-year span.
In the past six lotteries, from 2019 to 2024, only 50% of the teams with the highest draft lottery odds retained the No. 1 pick.
That’s good news for the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks, who selected Macklin Celebrini with the no. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, could return to the position to have first crack at the likes of Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, or James Hagens — the top candidates to go first overall in 2025.
Here’s a look at who has the best odds to win the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery, as of the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 pm ET on Friday, March 7:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS % | LOTTERY WIN | ODDS No. 1 |
| 1 | San Jose Sharks | 17-38-9 | .336 | 18.50% | 25.50% |
| 2 | Chicago Blackhawks | 19-35-8 | .371 | 13.50% | 13.50% |
| 3 | Nashville Predators | 23-32-7 | .427 | 11.50% | 11.50% |
| 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 24-31-6 | .443 | 9.50% | 9.50% |
| 5 | Seattle Kraken | 26-33-4 | .444 | 8.50% | 8.50% |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 24-30-10 | .453 | 7.50% | 7.50% |
| 7 | Philadelphia Flyers | 27-28-8 | .492 | 6.50% | 6.50% |
| 8 | Anaheim Ducks | 27-27-7 | .500 | 6.00% | 6.00% |
| 9 | Boston Bruins | 28-28-8 | .500 | 5.00% | 5.00% |
| 10 | New York Islanders | 28-26-7 | .516 | 3.50% | 3.50% |
| 11 | St. Louis Blues | 30-27-6 | .524 | 3.00% | 3.00% |
| 12 | Utah Hockey Club | 28-25-9 | .524 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 13 | Montreal Canadiens | 30-26-6 | .532 | 2.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Detroit Red Wings | 30-26-6 | .532 | 1.50% | 0.00% |
| 15 | New York Rangers* | 31-26-5 | .540 | 0.50% | 0.00% |
| 16 | Calgary Flames ** | 29-23-10 | .548 | 0.50% | 0.00% |
*Pittsburgh owns the right to this pick via Vancouver, as a result of trades involving J.T. Miller from Vancouver to New York, and Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh to Vancouver. It is conditional on New York finishing outside the top 13.
**Montreal owns the rights to this pick should Calgary finish outside the top 10, as a result of acquiring Sean Monahan for future considerations.
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