2023 NHL Draft lottery: Date, time, and everything else you need to know
As the NHL season comes to a close and the playoffs loom, teams are looking to the future in the form of the 2023 NHL draft lottery. It could be one of the most important ones in the league’s history, as Canadian phenom Connor Bedard is slated to be the first overall pick.
He’s one of the few players in recent memory to be granted exceptional status, which was also given to fellow Canadian (and current MVP frontrunner) Connor McDavid ahead of his draft year.
According to the NHL, the draft lottery “will determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the opening round of the 2023 NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The first round is on June 28 and rounds two through seven are on June 29. And the participants will be all the teams that do not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While just over half the league is vying for a playoff spot, a few are hoping to secure the top spot in the draft lottery. So, let’s look ahead and offer up everything you need to know about the 2023 NHL Draft lottery.
When is the 2023 NHL Draft lottery?
Bottom-of-the-league teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Anaheim Ducks have May 8th circled on their calendars because that’s the day of the NHL Draft lottery. It will begin at 7:00 p.m. EST live from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, and broadcast on Sportsnet and TVAS in Canada, and ESPN in the United States.
2023 NHL Draft lottery odds: Who will have the No. 1 pick?
As of March 22, the odds for the top pick in the draft are:
Daily Faceoff explains the asterisk, noting that the “Canadiens own the Florida Panthers’ 2023 first-round pick, which is not lottery protected, from the March 16, 2022 trade for Ben Chiarot. So the Canadiens’ effective Lottery Odds are computed by adding the Habs’ own draft pick odds, plus the odds of Florida’s original pick, but only if the Florida Panthers are in the top 11 in the lottery ranks.”
It’s also important to note that the Arizona Coyotes own the Ottawa Senators’ 2023 pick, which is only top-5 protected as a result of the Jakob Chychrun trade. If the pick ends up as a top-five pick in 2023, it will be reverted to 2024.
Furthermore, it’s important to note that, because of a change made to the rules in 2021, only the bottom 11 teams in the league have a shot at the top spot in the NHL Draft. The regulation only allows a team to move up a maximum of ten spots in the draft from their finishing position.
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