REPORT: NHL proposes Draft Lottery changes
The NHL has sent a memo to its teams proposing at least three changes to the NHL Draft Lottery system, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnson.
The three proposed changes include:
- Teams will be limited to no more than two lottery wins in a five-year period
- Teams will only be allowed to jump 10 spots with a lottery win
- The number of picks decided by the lottery will be lowered from three to two
This is still the early stages of any potential changes becoming official though, as the NHL’s Board of Governors would still need to approve the changes.
Elliotte Friedman then added to Johnson’s report, stating that the first two points would be effective for the 2022 NHL Draft and the third would be implemented for the upcoming 2021 NHL Draft. He also noted that previous lottery wins won’t count toward the limit within five years.
These changes come after the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery was won by the New York Rangers, who won despite finishing 18th overall and qualifying for the NHL’s extended postseason. They finished 40 points above the last-place Detroit Red Wings and drafted top-prospect Alexis Lafreniere. The Red Wings dropped to fourth overall.
In the last nine years, the last-placed NHL team has selected first overall just twice. These proposed changes look to help the chances of the lower-seeded teams while working to prevent long-term tanking in the standings.