NHL Draft lottery odds for every team: Sabres own best odds at top pick, Rangers the worst

NHL Draft lottery odds for teams picking see the Buffalo Sabres with the best odds while last year’s lottery winners, the Rangers have the lowest odds.

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs underway, the 15 teams who didn’t make the playoffs are looking forward to June 2. That’s when the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery will take place and fans will find out who will have the first overall pick and how the lottery portion of the first round will shape up.

The format is slightly different than previous years, so let’s take a look at the odds for each team. Just a quick reminder, the worse a team’s record was during the regular season, the better chance they have of moving up in the standings.

NHL Draft lottery odds

Since the Buffalo Sabres had the worst record in the league, they have the best chances of getting the top overall pick with a 16.2 percent chance. That’s basically a one out of six chance. Even in a worst-case scenario, the lowest pick the Sabres can be awarded is the third overall pick.

The Anaheim Ducks have the second-best odds at 12 percent. For those who prefer fractions, that’s roughly a one out of eight chance. The lowest pick they can be awarded is the fourth overall pick.

The expansion Seattle Kraken didn’t play this season, but to make things fair, they are tied for the third-best odds to get the first overall pick. The Kraken and the New Jersey Devils have a 10.3 percent chance at the top pick while the Columbus Blue Jackets at 8.5 percent have the fifth-best odds.

There will be two draws on June 2. The first one will determine who has the first overall pick while the second one will determine who will have the second overall draft pick. After the second pick, the order will go in reverse order of the standings from the team with the worst record to the team with the best record.

The NHL Draft is June 23-24 and will be conducted remotely.