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When is the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery? Who will win the top spot in the draft?

By Derek Grochowski

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 29: NHL official loads the lottery ball machine during the NHL Draft Lottery at the CBC Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 29, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 29: NHL official loads the lottery ball machine during the NHL Draft Lottery at the CBC Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 29, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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For fans of the 15 teams that did not make the playoffs, the NHL Draft Lottery can be the most exciting thing to happen in the month of April.

The NHL Draft Lottery is the one night a year when the entire hockey world stops what it is doing to watch some ping pong balls get blown around and then randomly selected. The process may seem simple, but the impact of those ping pong balls can be enormous to an NHL franchise.

In recent years, teams that have won the lottery have drafted cornerstone players like Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. These are the players who have shaped the path of their teams’ futures.

This year the NHL Draft Lottery will be held on the night of Saturday, April 28. The entire bottom half of the NHL draft order will be decided. Teams can start to plan out their future.

The event takes place in Toronto and the teams in the bottom five with the best odds will send a team representative to be in attendance for the lottery. It has become an event that has created some memorable moments so far, such as when fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs found out they won the draft lottery for Matthews.

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This season, the Buffalo Sabres hold the best odds for the first overall pick with an 18.5 percent chance, followed by the Ottawa Senators and then the Arizona Coyotes.

Fans of the Buffalo Sabres do not need to be reminded that being the worst team in the league is anything but a guarantee for the first overall pick. The Sabres lost both the 2014 and 2015 draft lotteries after they finished with the worst record in the league. They missed out on Aaron Ekblad and Connor McDavid. The prize this season is star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. May the ping pong ball be ever in your favor during this year’s NHL Draft Lottery.

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