The New Jersey Devils will have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft after winning the NHL Draft Lottery on Saturday. The Devils, who had an 8.5 percent of winning the lottery, have the top pick for the first time in franchise history.
The 2017 NHL draft will be June 23-24 at the United Center in Chicago.
The Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars were awarded the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, respectively.
The Colorado Avalanche, who had the best chance at winning the lottery at 17.9 percent, fell to No. 4. The Vancouver Canucks take the No. 5 pick while the expansion Vegas Golden Knights will pick No. 6.
The Devils will likely select center Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League with the top pick. New Jersey could go against the grain and pick center Nico Hischier of the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Both players have been listed No. 1-2 in prospect rankings throughout the season.
Complete NHL Draft Lottery results:
Your final draft board! Devils, Flyers, Stars are the top three. Avalanche sit at fourth despite having the best odds to win pic.twitter.com/HXQRZWFdFG
— SB Nation NHL (@SBNationNHL) April 30, 2017