The Chicago Blackhawks will be in contention for the top overall pick in this year’s draft during the draft lottery, which determines the first 14 picks in the first round.
The draft lottery is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Toronto.
The Buffalo Sabres have the highest percentage of winning the No. 1 pick at 18.5 percent, while Chicago has the seventh-best odds at 6.5 percent. The Hawks have a 20.4 percent chance at drafting in the top three. If they don’t receive a top three selection, they will draft 7-10.
The lottery is a weighted system implemented in 1995 to help determine the order of selection in the first round of the draft, which will take place June 22-23 at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
How the lottery works
There are three lotteries — one for each of the top three picks, with all 15 non-playoff teams eligible to win. The odds for the remaining teams increase after each draw.
The 12 teams that do not receive a top-three pick will be assigned picks 4-15 in reverse order of their regular-season point totals. Up to three teams can jump ahead of the Hawks, in which case they would pick 10.
Picks 4-15 will be announced prior to Game 2 between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights, with coverage on NBC Sports Network. The top three picks will be unveiled during the second intermission.
Hawks’ winning lottery history
Chicago has won the lottery twice before in 1999 and 2007.
In 1999, Chicago moved up from the eighth spot to the fourth overall pick. The Hawks traded the pick to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Bryan McCabe and the Canucks’ first-round picks in 2000 and 2001. The New York Rangers acquired the pick in a trade with Vancouver and Tampa Bay, to select Pavel Brendl.
In 2007, the Hawks jumped from fifth to first with an 8.1 percent chance to select forward Patrick Kane, who has become one of the top players in franchise history.
Hawks’ 1-10 draft history
Here’s a list of every top 10 draft selection in Hawks’ history:
- Patrick Kane (‘07)
- Andy Culligan (‘65)
- Terry Caffery (‘66), Denis Savard (‘80), Ed Olczyk (‘84), Cam Baker (‘04), Jonathan Toews (‘06)
- Richie Bayes (‘64)
- Art Hampson (‘63)
- Doug Wilson (‘77), Adam Bennett (‘89)
- *Brian McKenney (‘65), Bob Tombari (‘67), Greg Vaydik (‘75), Keith Brown (‘79), Ken Yaremchuk (‘82), Jack Skille (‘05)
- Jimmy Waite (‘87), Jeremy Roenick (‘88), Mark Bell (‘98)
- *Ron Dussiaume (‘66), John Marks (‘68), Real Cloutier (‘76), Tuomo Ruutu (‘01)
- *Jan Popiel (‘64), Tim Higgins (‘78), Mikhail Yakubov (‘00)
*Drafted in the second round
What: NHL draft lottery
Time: 6:30 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Network