This is a major shift in process and should go a long way toward trying to silence the constant conspiracy theories that the results can be rigged in favor of certain teams.
The lottery will be conducted in two phases to determine the draft order.
The first drawing determines the winner of the No. 1 overall pick, while the second drawing determines the No. 2 overall pick.
More from the NHL on that process:
In each phase 14 balls, numbered 1 to 14, will be placed into a lottery machine with four drawn. The resulting four-digit series is matched against a look-up table that lists the 1,000 possible combinations to determine which team was assigned the winning combination.
The look-up table of the 1,000 four-digit combinations assigned to each team participating in the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery is available on NHL.com. The table also lists combinations by team.
As each ball is drawn, odds change and teams are eliminated. The viewing audience will learn who is still in the running in real time.
There is a limit on the total number of selections (10) a team participating in the Draft Lottery can “move up” in the event it wins one of the Lottery Draws. Thus, only the top 11 seeds will be eligible to receive the first overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Even though there has never been anything to validate the claims, fans have occasionally felt the league would want to get top prospects into more desirable markets (Sidney Crosby to Pittsburgh; Connor Bedard to Chicago; Connor McDavid to a Canadian market; New York moving up any time it has a chance).
There are 11 teams in the lottery that are eligible to win the No. 1 overall pick.
They are, in order of highest odds:
1. San Jose Sharks (25.5%)
2. Chicago Blackhawks (13.5%)
3. Nashville Predators (11.5%)
4. Philadelphia Flyers (9.5%)
5. Boston Bruins (8.5%)
6. Seattle Kraken (7.5%)
7. Buffalo Sabres (6.5%)
8. Anaheim Ducks (6.0%)
9. Pittsburgh Penguins (5.0%)
10. New York Islanders (3.5%)
11. New York Rangers (3.0%)
The Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Utah Hockey Club, Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens (owners of Calgary’s first-round pick) all have a 2% chance or less of winning, but a win for them would only allow them to move up 10 spots. Meaning Detroit could not pick higher than second, Columbus could not pick higher than third, Utah could not pick higher than fourth, Vancouver could not pick higher than fifth and Montreal could not pick higher than sixth.
The New York Rangers’ first-round pick could belong to the Penguins as part of a sequence of trades earlier in the season. The Rangers traded that pick to Vancouver for J.T. Miller, with Vancouver then trading it to Pittsburgh for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. There is a condition on that pick that makes it top-13 protected, meaning if it falls in the top-13 (which it will), the Rangers can keep the pick this season and send their unprotected 2026 first-round pick to Pittsburgh instead.
This year’s class does not have a sure-thing top prospect, but there are still some very high-end prospects at the top of the class. Defenseman Matthew Schaefer and forwards Michael Misa and James Hagens figure to all be in the running for the top pick and the top three players to get their names called.
