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The NHL Draft Lottery took place on Tuesday, with the San Jose Sharks winning the right to draft first. The Sharks will have a chance to pick the presumptive number-one overall pick, Macklin Celebrini.
But as soon as San Jose was revealed as the winner, fan reactions poured in, criticizing an apparent to favor the Chicago Blackhawks.
The fans made their feelings evident:
While plenty of fans mocked the fact that Chicago didn’t win, others were excited that the San Jose Sharks won the NHL Draft Lottery for the first time in the franchise’s history.
Here are the most positive comments from today’s NHL Draft Lottery results:
"Happy for San Jose, they needed it," a fan cheered.
This fan showed this support:
"Good on the Sharks. Congrats to their fans."
"Good for SJ!" A fan showed their happiness over the results.
The Chicago Blackhawks won last year’s NHL Draft Lottery, using the pick to select Connor Bedard. This time around, the San Jose Sharks will pick first, followed by Chicago, the Anaheim Ducks third, the Columbus Blue Jackers fourth, and the Montreal Canadiens fifth.
The new Utah hockey club won the sixth overall selection. The Draft will take place in Las Vegas. The first round will commence on Friday, June 28, with the second and subsequent rounds on Saturday, June 29.
The first NHL Draft Lottery redraw in history
The NHL utilizes a lottery system consisting of teams entering a bingo-style draw to determine which teams earn the top picks. In general, the first team name that emerges from the draw earns the top pick.
This year, the San Jose Sharks entered the draw with a 25.5% chance of taking the top pick. The Sharks’ chances were determined by their finish as the last overall team during the regular season.
However, as NHL insider Greg Wyshynksi pointed out:
"First time in NHL Draft Lottery history, they had one redraw, let alone two."
Wyshynski would go on to point out that the Sharks won the first three draws, while Chicago won the fourth drawing to get the second overall pick.
This situation led to speculation about a possible effort to help Chicago earn a higher draft position. There is yet to be official word on why there was a redraw.
Meanwhile, the remaining draft order did not show any results beyond what most NHL analysts expected. The Sharks will presumably pick Celebrini, with forward Ivan Demidov and defenseman Artyom Levshunov expected to go second and third, respectively.
