Chicago did not get a fortunate bounce in the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery, staying put in the No. 11 overall spot for the first round of this year’s draft.
The Blackhawks entered the draft lottery with the 11th best odds at the No. 1 overall pick, moving up from No. 12 due to Arizona forfeiting its 2021 first-round pick as part of the punishment for violating the NHL’s combine testing policy last year.
Historically speaking, the No. 11 spot in the first round of the draft has not been kind to the Blackhawks. The two most recent examples are Pavel Vorobiev (2000) — who played just 57 NHL games — and Kyle Beach (2008), who never reached the NHL. Back in 1985, though, Chicago did pick defenseman Dave Manson No. 11 overall and he played in 1,103 NHL games — including 431 games in Chicago.
In 2020, Nashville selected goaltender Iaroslav Askarov with the No. 11 overall pick in the first round. Arizona took Swedish defenseman Victor Soderstrom with that pick in 2019, while the Islanders nabbed forward Oliver Wahlstrom 11th overall in 2018. The best No. 11 pick of the last decade is probably forward Filip Forsberg, who was picked 11th by the Capitals in 2012 and then traded to the Predators for Martin Erat and Michael Latta in April 2013.
Here’s how the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft will unfold:
- Buffalo
- Seattle
- Anaheim
- New Jersey
- Columbus
- Detroit
- San Jose
- Los Angeles
- Vancouver
- Ottawa
- Chicago
- Calgary
- Philadelphia
- Dallas
- NY Rangers