The Who, What, and Why of the NHL Lottery
The NHL Draft Lottery represents a hope for a great many franchises. So long as they manage to hold onto their first round selection, the opportunity to land a top pick can help transform a non-playoff team into a contender in short order.
This year, for the first time, the NHL will conduct the lottery live in-studio, allowing viewers to follow along and learn the results at the same time as the Draft Lottery participants.
Previously, the draw would happen earlier in the day in a sealed off room. The cards were flipped on-air later that night.
But how exactly does the lottery system work? What rules are in place? Here is everything you need to know.
What Is the NHL Draft Lottery?
The NHL draft lottery was established in 1995 to determine the sequence of the initial 16 selections in the NHL Draft. Instead of automatically awarding the top pick to the team with the worst regular-season record, as was the practice before 1995, the league now holds a lottery to ensure fairness and to deter teams from deliberately losing games (tanking) in order to secure a better draft position.
The lottery only affects the first round of the draft—after that, the NHL Draft order rules follow the reverse standings from the previous season.
How Does the NHL Draft Lottery Work?
Each non-playoff team is assigned a set of lottery odds based on where they finished in the standings. The lower the team’s ranking, the better its chances of winning the lottery.
The lottery itself works like this:
A lottery machine with 14 ping-pong balls creates 1,001 possible four-number combinations. Each team is assigned a share of those combinations, based on their odds.
- A first draw determines which team wins the No. 1 pick.
- A second draw determines the No. 2 pick.
If a team from outside the bottom 11 wins, they can only move up a maximum of 10 spots, meaning the team who finished last in the standings is guaranteed at least the third overall pick. After the first two picks are decided, the remaining teams are placed in order of their regular-season standings.
NHL Draft Lottery Rules
The current NHL Draft Lottery rules were last adjusted in 2021. Here are the key points:
- Only two picks are determined by the lottery (No. 1 and No. 2).
- A team cannot move up more than 10 spots in the draft order.
- A team cannot win the lottery more than twice in a five-year span.
For clarity, the rule surrounding no more than two lottery wins in a five year span is exactly that – a club cannot win the lottery. But they can hold their position. For example, the San Jose Sharks selected Macklin Celebrini first overall in 2024. But as the 32nd team in the standings, they simply held their spot. If they select first overall in 2025, it won’t count as a win either, since they finished 32nd overall this season as well. They will be free to contend for a top-two selection in 2026.
Conversely, when the Chicago Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard first-overall in 2023, they moved up from the third spot to first. They were second-overall in 2024, but that was their spot in the standings. Finishing 31st overall in 2024-25, if they move up to first overall in the 2025 lottery, that will be the final ‘win’ they can achieve through the 2027 draft.
However, if they stay in their spot and select second-overall, they will still have the potential to win a lottery in the next two years.
Additionally, if a team in slots 12-16 wins, they move up the maximum 10 spots, and the team with the worst record retains the No. 1 overall pick. These rules ensure a balance between giving struggling teams a chance at elite talent while maintaining competition integrity.
2025 Lottery Odds
