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Well Carolina, Do You Feel Lucky? (Draft Lotto Open Thread)

The Hurricanes have an 8.5% chance to win the NHL Draft Lottery

By Bob Wage
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The event many Canes fans have been waiting for all season for will finally happen tonight.  The NHL Draft Lottery is scheduled to take place at 8 p.m.

Currently in 5th position, the Hurricanes have an 8.5% chance of winning the lottery and moving to first. They also have a 37% chance of dropping a spot to 6th, and a 54.5% chance of staying put.

The stakes are huge because the winner will have the ability to select superstar, Connor McDavid.

What's the procedure?  The NHL puts 14 balls numbered from 1 to 14 in the bingo machine and four balls will be released.  The numbers on those four balls will then be matched to the numbers previously assigned to each non-playoff team.

For instance, if the balls numbered 1,2,3, and 7 come up, the Canes win!

Is there any room for error here?  Hey, this is the NHL, of course not!

Chip reported on Twitter that Ron Francis will be in attendance.

You can check out the all the number sequences assigned to each team, including the Hurricanes, at the following link:

NHL Draft Lottery team table with numbers

The official release from the NHL, which includes the procedure and other details, follows.  (Feel free to use the comment section as an open thread for ongoing discussion).

2015 NHL Draft Lottery To Be Conducted Saturday, April 18
Contact Information:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / APRIL 12, 2015
2015 NHL DRAFT LOTTERY TO BE CONDUCTED SATURDAY, APRIL 18
Winning Team to be Revealed in Televised Announcement on CBC, TVA Sports and NBC


TORONTO (April 12, 2015) -- The 2015 NHL Draft Lottery, a weighted system implemented and utilized to determine the order of selection in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft for the 14 Clubs not qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (or the Clubs that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams), will take place on Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m., ET.

The results of the Draft Lottery will be revealed live on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada and NBC in the U.S. immediately preceding the start of Game 2 of the Penguins-Rangers First Round series.

In August 2014, the NHL announced changes to the Draft Lottery format. The changes included adjusting the odds of winning the first overall selection. The 10 highest-finishing non-Playoff qualifying teams will receive higher (better) Draft Lottery odds than they received previously with the four lowest-finishing teams receiving lower (worse) odds.

Based on team finish, the percentage chance of being selected in the 2015 Draft Lottery is:

Odds of     Odds of    Odds of Moving
Team    Winning Lottery    Staying Put    Down a Position

1.    Buffalo Sabres 20.0%    20.0%    80.0%
2.    Arizona Coyotes 13.5%    20.0%    66.5%
3.    Edmonton Oilers 11.5%    33.5%    55.0%
4.    Toronto Maple Leafs 9.5%    45.0%    45.5%
5.    Carolina Hurricanes    8.5%    54.5%    37.0%
6.    New Jersey Devils 7.5%    63.0%    29.5%
7.    Philadelphia Flyers 6.5%    70.5%    23.0%
8.    Columbus Blue Jackets 6.0%    77.0%    17.0%
9.    San Jose Sharks 5.0%    83.0%    12.0%
10.    Colorado Avalanche 3.5%    88.0%    8.5%
11.    Florida Panthers 3.0%    91.5%    5.5%
12.    Dallas Stars 2.5%    94.5%    3.0%
13.    Los Angeles Kings 2.0%    97.0%    1.0%
14.    Boston Bruins 1.0%    99.0%    0.0%

Fourteen balls, numbered 1 to 14, are placed in a lottery machine. The machine randomly selects four balls. The resulting four-number series (without regard to selection order) is matched against a chart that shows all possible combinations and the Clubs to which each is assigned.

The chart of assigned combinations will be posted at NHL.com on Friday, April 17. The complete process, including the video of the lottery drawing, also will be available on NHL.com after the lottery is conducted.

Media wishing to attend the Draft Lottery at Sportsnet’s downtown Toronto studio (CBC Building) must confirm their attendance with Julie Young, NHL Communications (O: 416-359-7964, jyoung@nhl.com) for security purposes. Media will have the opportunity to speak with Club and League representatives after the Lottery has concluded and the results are announced. More details will be available later in the week.