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NHL Draft Lottery 2020: When is Phase 2 and how will it work?

By Josh Hill

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Kirby Dach reacts after being selected third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Kirby Dach reacts after being selected third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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For the first time ever, the NHL Playoffs will determine what team gets the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft.

For a season as bizarre as this one has been for the NHL, there’s no other way the Draft Lottery could have gone than the way it did on Friday night.

Typically, we find out what team wins the No. 1 pick in the lottery. But because the NHL is reshuffling its postseason to include 24-teams instead of the usual 16-teams, the lottery included a “mystery” team that otherwise would have been in the lottery but has now found itself in the playoffs.

For obvious reasons, the team wasn’t picked beforehand, so the next team on the list couldn’t tank their playoff game if a scenario arose in which it would win the No. 1 pick by doing so.

It’s a good thing the NHL put in the safeguard because that exact scenario played out in the Draft Lottery on Friday night. The Detroit Red Wings, who had the highest odds to win the No. 1 pick, dropped to fourth-overall and the mystery team won the top prize.

We will find out who that team is after the qualifying round of the NHL Playoffs in July or August.

Here’s the draft order as it stands now:

1. TBD Playoff Team
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. Ottawa Senators
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. New Jersey Devil
8. Buffalo Sabres

NHL Draft Lottery Phase 2 will determine the No. 1 pick, but how?

One of the eight teams that will end up losers in that round will enter a Phase 2 lottery to see who wins the No. 1 overall pick. Never has there been a better way to digest a bitter playoff loss than to potentially win the No. 1 pick as a result.

One of these 16 teams will enter a second lottery, all with even odds, and walk away with the top pick in the draft:

  • Calgary Flames
  • Winnipeg Jets
  • Nashville Predators
  • Arizona Coyotes
  • Edmonton Oilers
  • Chicago Blackhawks
  • Vancouver Canucks
  • Minnesota Wild
  • Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Carolina Hurricanes
  • New York Rangers
  • Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Montreal Canadiens
  • New York Islanders
  • Florida Panthers

We don’t know when the NHL Playoffs will take place, but right now it’s looking like late July, early August. After the qualifying round is set, the Phase 2 lottery date will be announced.

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