Could the Blackhawks win the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row? Here are the odds originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
O Chicago Blackhawks are once again positioned to take a shot at the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Draft, and surprisingly, they have even better odds than last season.
The Blackhawks finished the regular season with the second-worst record in the NHL, behind only the San Jose Sharks in that category.
As a result, the Blackhawks have the second-best odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick in next week’s NHL Draft Lottery, with a 13.5% chance of securing first selection.
The Blackhawks have a 14.1% chance of getting the second pick, with a 30.7% chance of picking third and a 41.7% chance of picking fourth. Because they have the second-worst record in the league, the Blackhawks can’t lose more than three spots, meaning they won’t pick anything worse than fourth in June’s draft in Las Vegas.
Last year, the Blackhawks had the third-best odds to land the top overall pick, which they did by earning the right to select the phenom Connor Bedard.
This year, Boston University center Macklin Celebrini is seen as the likely favorite to be a first-team selection, having scored 32 goals and dished out 32 assists at the college level last season.
Russian forward Ivan Demidov, Canadian forward Cayden Lindstrom and Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who scored nine goals for Michigan State last season, are also expected to be among the top picks in this year’s class.
The NHL Draft Lottery consists of two separate drawings, determining the teams that will get the first two draft picks. A team can only move up a maximum of 10 places, meaning only the bottom 11 teams in the league standings are eligible for the first pick.
If the Blackhawks were to win the lottery for a second straight season, they would be ineligible for the next three seasons, as the league has instituted rules that limit a team to two lottery wins in a five-year period.
