Sabres win 2021 NHL Draft Lottery
The Buffalo Sabres have the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft after winning the NHL Draft Lottery on Wednesday.
The Buffalo Sabres, who finished last in the regular-season standings, had the best odds — at 16.6 percent — of winning the No. 1 pick.
The expansion Seattle Kraken will have the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, and the Anaheim Ducks will pick at No. 3.
The Ducks had the second-best odds at 12.1 percent. The Kraken and New Jersey Devils, who finished with the third-worst record, each had a 10.3 percent chance of winning. The odds for the 16 teams that failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs were determined based on inverse order of the regular-season standings. In addition, the expansion Kraken were given the equivalent to the third-best odds in the lottery.
The first three selections had been determined by the lottery since 2016. The change was made to reduce the likelihood of the team with the worst record dropping more than two positions in the draft order.
The draft lottery set the order of the first 15 picks in the 2021 draft.
The 2021 draft is scheduled for July 23-24. The first round of the draft will be held July 23, with rounds 2-7 on July 24.
2021 NHL Draft order:
- Buffalo Sabres
- Seattle Kraken
- Anaheim Ducks
- New Jersey Devils
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Detroit Red Wings
- San Jose Sharks
- Los Angeles Kings
- Vancouver Canucks
- Ottawa Senators
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Calgary Flames
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Dallas Stars
- New York Rangers