The Blackhawks could have a 12.5 percent chance at landing the top overall selection in the 2020 NHL draft after a placeholder team took the spot in Phase 1 of the draft lottery Friday.
The Kings and Senators received the second and third spots, respectively, in the draft lottery, which was made up of seven teams that will not participate in the Stanley Cup qualifier, as well as eight teams that fail to win their qualifier series. Those eight teams were represented by placeholders. The Sabres fell out of the top seven and landed at eighth overall.
If the Blackhawks lose to the Oilers in their best-of-five qualifier series, they along with the other qualifier-losers will be part of Phase 2 of the lottery to determine which team will have top pick. All eight qualifier losers will share equal odds of 12.5 percent in Phase 2 of the lottery.
If the Blackhawks win that draw — which does not have a date yet — they would have a top-three pick for a second straight year after selecting Kirby Dach third overall in 2019. The consensus first overall pick is Alexis Lafreniere, the two-time Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year, who scored 35 goals and a QMJHL-leading 112 points in 52 games for Rimouski Océanic.
The 2020 draft will be after the playoffs, which do not have an official start date. The draft was scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal but was postponed due to concerns about the coronavirus.
#2020NHLDraft order
1. Qualifier loser team (TBD)
2. Kings
3. Senators (SJ pick)
4. Red Wings
5. Senators (own pick)
6. Ducks
7. Devils
8. Sabres— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) June 27, 2020
Placeholder ‘Team E’ had the winning No. 1 pick combination. That placeholder team had just a 2.5% chance, 25 winning combinations in 1,000 possibilities.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 27, 2020
First overall pick odds (lmao) pic.twitter.com/ucUsKW8z4Z
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) June 27, 2020