It was a dark day in the NHL on Friday as five teams were eliminated from playoff contention and, barring a miraculous last-minute comeback by the Toronto Maple Leafs, it could have been six-for-six. While the focus on these pivotal games yesterday was on those teams advancing and those team going home, there were also numerous draft picks impacted:
- In addition to yesterday’s winners, it was also a big day for the New Jersey Devils. In a year in which the draft class is lauded for its depth, particularly in impact forwards, the Devils are now the proud owners of three first-round picks. New Jersey acquired Arizona’s first-rounder in the Taylor Hall trade and Vancouver’s first-rounder from Tampa Bay in the Blake Coleman However, both picks were lottery protected. Now that the Coyotes and Canucks have advanced, they will not take part in Monday’s second draft lottery to determine the No. 1 pick and as a result their picks have officially been sent to the Devils.
- The Ottawa Senators will also have three picks in the first round of the 2020 Draft. Already owners of their own pick and San Jose’s, the Senators officially acquired the New York Islanders’ pick yesterday. The Isles had sent a lottery-protected first-rounder to Ottawa in the Jean-Gabriel Pageau trade, but with New York moving one they will not be in the running for a lottery pick. There is also a conditional 2020 second-round pick involved in that deal which will transfer to the Senators if the Islanders win the Stanley Cup. That dream for now remains alive for New York.
- The clock is ticking on the Pittsburgh Penguins. The first-round pick that the team sent to the Minnesota Wild in the Jason Zucker trade contained a condition that the Penguins could keep the pick if it landed in the top 15. Now that the team has been surprisingly knocked out of the postseason, their first-rounder will fall in that range. They now have seven days to decided whether or not to retain the pick and send their 2021 first-round pick instead or to simply trade their 2020 selection. Obviously, the team will wait for the results of Monday night’s lottery, but regardless it seems likely that the Penguins will keep the pick and bet on themselves to make the playoffs next season.
- One first-round pick that still remains undecided is the pick that will transfer to the New York Rangers as part of the Brady Skjei When the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Skjei, they promised the Rangers the later of their two first-rounders, their own and the Toronto Maple Leafs’, acquired alongside Patrick Marleau. However, the Toronto pick has conditions of its own; if the Leafs pick lands in the top 10, they will retain the selection and transfer their 2021 first-rounder instead. The only way for this to occur would be for Toronto to both lose Game Five against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday and then win the No. 1 overall pick in Monday’s draft lottery. If the Maple Leafs lose both the game and the lottery, their pick will be No. 13 and by default will be earlier than Carolina’s, meaning the Hurricanes’ own pick will go to the Rangers. Should Toronto win on Sunday, it will remain to be seen how far each team goes in the playoffs and which pick will head to New York.
Bold prediction: The Kings will trade up to #1 with whoever wins the phase 2 lottery.
bold indeed
Why would the Rangers trade the #1pick?
Lottery was rigged to give Syndy Crosby to the Pens and it will be to give them this #1 overall too…
Yup. NHL should have never done it this way this year. All the stars line up for Pittsburgh here Makes me sick.
Maybe you but not me
From your lips to Gary’s ears.
Here we go, Lotto Ball, here we go…
In that lockout season draft they tweeked the rules on who would have the best chances and then the lottery balls were selected off stage and all of the GMs sat there emotionless as they were announced. No idea why they didn’t pick in full view of everyone as every other draft lottery ever has done, The Pens getting Syndy helped Mario save the team in Pittsburgh and allowed him to pass the torch.
And if they hadn’t tweaked that lottery, which team had the worst record the previous season and rightful claim to the top pick?
The Pittsburgh Penguins.
Bettman is in process of loading that ping pong ball for his choosing(Pittsburgh) and deals under the table to come his way,
I hope you are right, Rat. Load that ping pong ball, Gary.
That last franchise center from the Rimouski Oceanic worked out OK for us.
So the worst team gets a franchise player 2 years in a row without a season played in between. Not fair either. The Capitals didn’t get the same consideration due to picking first, yet the NHL gave the Pens the extra opportunities despite picking Fleury #1 overall the season before because they trade for that pick. In that 5 year span they picked 5th, 1st, 2nd, 1st overall and then 2nd again, no wonder they were able to piece together that run.
OK, so you think that it’s not fair to give it to the worst team two years in a row.
Obviously, you’d prefer a system where all 30 teams had a chance to get that pick. Oh wait…
Two years in a row when no games were played makes no sense. Because adding a #1 pick to a last place team can instantly elevate them. Between last season and this season games were played, there is no reason on earth a play-in team with a chance to win it all should also have a chance to win the #1 overall pick.
Edmonton is gonna win it Mcdavid needs a cup so he NHL can market them as the next dynasty pens run is over
There’s no marketing in Edmonton. As a great one once said, “I’m out of here.”
Kings will never get the 1st overall pick. It’s not in the cards!
I can’t wait to hear Seattle Kraken’s are on the clock. Been a long time coming. Forget the corrupt NBA we are ready for the NHL.
FEAR THE KRAKEN
I already fear the Kraken….especially if they end up with a team full of plumbers!
Ha
Nice
I wanted the Pens to either win the Cup or lose early. I guess I should have indicated a stronger preference for winning the Cup, but here we are…
Evidently, Gary loves Pittsburgh ( a mid-market city he probably never once set foot in until he became NHL commish) so much he’ll commit criminal fraud for us.
But, either way, the Pens have to keep this pick. If you can get an impact prospect, use the pick.
If not, trade it for a younger player with a good cap hit. Not a perfect example as his cap hit is too high, but similar to the Canes deal for Brady Skjei. A left shot D man who can skate and remove Jack Johnson from the lineup would be perfect. They can use Chad Ruhwedel to replace Schultz.
Insert Poulin and Legare into the lineup. Get rid of every 30+ year old not named Sid, Geno, Kris or Patric. Trade Murray. Keep Jarry. Find a Khudobin type backup.
LeTurnover 58. Needs to be the first to go 7.5 million for no defense and Half dozen turnovers a game
Best case scenario for the league is Florida wins the lottery. That franchise is the most in need of help and could use someone to build around and put butts in the seats. It would give the team a measure of respectability.
And gee, would you look at that. Bad enough the draft lottery turned out to be a scam to reward a playoff team with the first overall pick. But even better is that four talent rich teams, possibly five if the Leafs lose tonight, lose in the preliminary round. And four of them lost rather easily making you wonder if that’s part of the scam. Beginning to sound like the NBA. Let’s keep the rich richer. Don’t be shocked if this is just the first of what could become a regular thing. Jets, Oilers, Penguins, Predators, and Leafs(if they lose tonight) do not deserve to become richer in talent than they already are. Myself, I think it’s either Pittsburgh or Edmonton who gets it.
Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand why fans of other teams do not want the Pens to win the lotto and get the top pick. We’ve had them at the right moments and won more Cups than any other team over the past 30 years. I get it.
BUT…why the Pens get singled out over the Oilers, I don’t get. The Oilers have had four #1 overall picks in the last decade. Plus Draiital at #3. Pens haven’t had a top 5 pick since Jordan Staal in 2007. The Oilers getting a fifth #1 pick in a ten year span is/should be far more offensive.
I never paid attention to the NHL draft before. Not sure how it all works but I will learn. These comments kind of suck. I wanted everything to be above board and fair. I know there are shenanigans in every sport. They have a long way to go until they match Stern and the criminal he was. Have no idea about this specter they have now. I am going to go in and hope things are not that bad. Looking forward to the Kraken starting.
By the way what are your guys thoughts on the name? I was hoping it was the one they picked and they did a great job on the unis. There will be some playing around with the logo I am sure. Unless they are simple logos they always do.
Though this league has lost me as a fan (I’ll leave the politics of it aside), I kinda hope David Poile gets that #1 pick. He’s never deliberately tanked a season and I’d like to see that approach be rewarded finally.
It’d be nice if the Preds could for once get rewarded, this year for them was one to forget but have they ever had a #1 pick? I don’t believe they have ever had one
Legwand was a #2 overall, but that’s as close as they’ve gotten.
Why is Auston Matthews working so hard to look like Jon Lovitz?