Capitals retain 8th overall pick in NHL Draft Lottery
There was no drama for the Capitals in the NHL Draft Lottery on Monday night. Washington saw its most likely outcome come to fruition, retaining the eighth overall pick in this summer’s draft to remain in the same spot of the overall standings where it finished the 2022-23 season.
The Capitals owned a six percent chance at the No. 1 pick and 12.4% odds of moving up into the top three. However, the ping pong balls ultimately bounced in favor of the Chicago Blackhawks (11.5% chance) with the Anaheim Ducks (18.5%) and Columbus Blue Jackets (13.5%) rounding out the top three.
Washington had a 54.4% chance of sticking at eighth, their highest odds for any individual selection. It did avoid falling back to ninth or 10th.
Here’s the draft order for the 16 lottery picks in the first round:
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Anaheim Ducks
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- San Jose Sharks
- Montreal Canadiens
- Arizona Coyotes
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Washington Capitals
- Detroit Red Wings
- St. Louis Blues
- Vancouver Canucks
- Buffalo Sabres
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Nashville Predators
- Calgary Flames
Monday’s event was the 11th lottery the Capitals have participated in since the NHL first implemented it in 1995. They’ve improved their draft position only once: When they won the 2004 lottery for the right draft Alex Ovechkin after entering with the third-best odds. This year marked the first time they were a lottery team since 2014.
