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The Carolina Hurricanes had a 10% chance of moving up, a 67% chance of staying put and a 23% chance of losing at least one spot in Saturday night’s NHL Draft Lottery. You can guess what happened.
The Canes will pick 12th at June’s draft in Chicago after the New Jersey Devils won the lottery, jumping from fifth with 8.5% odds to win and earning the chance to draft Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier, or someone else. The Philadelphia Flyers will pick second, despite finishing above the Hurricanes in the standings with the third-worst odds in the pool, and cashed in on just a 2.4% chance to claim the second pick. The third pick went to the Dallas Stars, who hit on 6.4% odds to jump five spots from eighth.
In the two seasons of the NHL drawing three teams to select the first three teams in the draft, only the Toronto Maple Leafs last year had top-three odds and remained in the top three picks. The Flyers’ move from 13th to second is the largest jump in draft lottery history.
So, who could the Canes be looking at with the twelfth pick? To refresh your memory, here are some previews of the draft-eligible forwards and the draft-eligible defensemen who might be pulling on a red sweater on June 23 at United Center.
Below is the full draft order:
- New Jersey Devils
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Dallas Stars
- Colorado Avalanche
- Vancouver Canucks
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Arizona Coyotes
- Buffalo Sabres
- Detroit Red Wings
- Florida Panthers
- Los Angeles Kings
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Winnipeg Jets
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- New York Islanders