The NHL draft lottery had a new look and a vastly different result.
The 23rd-place New York Islanders earned the right to pick first overall in the June 27-28 draft by winning the first live draft lottery in league history on Monday. The 19th-place Utah Hockey Club won the other drawing and moved up the maximum allowed 10 spots to fourth place.
The Islanders, currently between general managers, had 3.5% odds of winning the No. 1 overall pick. They will select first for the first time since drafting John Tavares in 2009.
The top-ranked North American prospect is Matthew Schaefer, though NHL Central Scouting said it’s close. The Erie (Pennsylvania) Otters defenseman missed the rest of the season after breaking his collarbone during the winter while playing for Team Canada at the world junior hockey championship. He had 22 points in 17 games.
Last year, the last-place San Jose Sharks and the 31st-place Chicago Blackhawks held onto their current spots and picked first and second, respectively. They will pick second and third this year.
Previously, the draw was conducted off camera, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly would turn over cards with team logos on them until the winner was revealed. But everyone got to watch the draw of the lottery balls live, and commissioner Gary Bettman was in the room, too.
NHL draft order after the lottery
- New York Islanders
- San Jose Sharks
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Utah Hockey Club
- Nashville Predators
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Boston Bruins
- Seattle Kraken
- Buffalo Sabres
- Anaheim Ducks
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- New York Rangers
- Detroit Red Wings
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Vancouver Canucks
- Montreal Canadiens (from Calgary Flames)
Draft lottery winners
Next Islanders general manager
Nice perk for whoever lands the job to replace Lou Lamoriello. The Islanders didn’t have much of a chance to win the draft lottery, but they now will land a solid prospect. Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said, ‘Schaefer easily projects as a future All-Star in the NHL.”
Utah Hockey Club
They were competitive in their first season in Salt Lake City and missed the playoffs by nine points. By winning the second drawing, they’ll pick fourth this year after choosing sixth in 2024.
Sharks and Blackhawks
Because Utah could only move up to fourth, the Sharks and Blackhawks move back only one spot each. If Schaefer goes first, these teams could end up with Michael Misa, James Hagens or Anton Frondell.
Draft lottery losers
Nashville Predators
They had a surprisingly bad season despite adding free agents Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. Despite having the third-best odds to win, they drop to fifth.
The live drawing
There’s probably a reason this is done off camera. ESPN did a great job of explaining, but it was a little tedious to watch, starting with the deliberate loading of the lottery balls. Then we watch them bounce around for 30 seconds before one was drawn, then the process was repeated twice. Before the fourth and deciding ball was drawn, they cut to commercial, followed by another 30 seconds of bouncing.
Calgary Flames
After three balls in the second drawing, the Flames were in the mix to move from 16th to sixth. If that happened, under trade terms with Montreal, they would have held onto that pick and instead sent the Canadiens the pick that Calgary had acquired in a trade with the Panthers. But Utah won. So no sixth pick, no 16th pick (heading to Montreal). They’ll pick wherever the Panthers land, which could be much later.
Top North American skaters
- Erie (OHL) defenseman Matthew Schaefer
- Saginaw (OHL) center Michael Misa
- Boston College center James Hagens
- Brantford (OHL) center Jake O’Brien
- Seattle (WHL) defenseman Radim Mrtka
- Brampton (OHL) right wing Porter Martone
- Moncton (QMJHL) center Caleb Desnoyers
- Brandon (WHL) center Roger McQueen
- Barrie (OHL) defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson
- Everett (WHL) left wing Carter Bear
Top international skaters
- Djurgarden (Sweden) center Anton Frondell
- Djurgarden (Sweden) right wing Victor Eklund
- Modo Jr. (Sweden) Milton Gastrin
- Karlovy Vary (Czechia) left wing Vojtech Cihar
- Ufa Jr. (Russia) right wing Alexander Zharovsky
When is the NHL draft?
The 2025 NHL Draft will be held June 27-28. The first round will be on June 27 and rounds 2-7 will be held the next day. The times haven’t been announced yet. It will be held in Los Angeles at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater. Top prospects will be there, but not team representatives, who will take part virtually.