NHL Draft Lottery 2021: Details Revealed

The NHL odds for the 2021 draft have been revealed, with the full list of the 16 teams in with a chance of winning the lottery.

The draft lottery is due to take place on 2nd June, an event that will determine the order of the first 16 picks. Teams who performed the worst this year will have the best chance of picking first, but there's no way of knowing in advance who will come out on top with the lottery.

NHL betting goes wild around the time of the drafts because it's an event that has the potential to make or break future seasons.

The NHL have confirmed the order for the pick, and their odds of winning the draft lottery for 2021 are as follows:

• Seed 1: Buffalo Sabres: 16.6% 
• Seed 2: Anaheim Ducks: 12.1%
• Seed 3: Seattle Kraken: 10.3%
• Seed 4: New Jersey Devils: 10.3%
• Seed 5: Columbus Blue Jackets: 8.5%
• Seed 6: Detroit Red Wings: 7.6%
• Seed 7: San Jose Sharks: 6.7%
• Seed 8: Los Angeles Kings: 5.8%
• Seed 9: Vancouver Canucks: 5.4%
• Seed 10: Ottawa Senators: 4.5%
• Seed 11: Arizona Coyotes: 3.1%
• Seed 12: Chicago Blackhawks: 2.7%
• Seed 13: Calgary Flames: 2.2%
• Seed 14: Philadelphia Flyers: 1.8%
• Seed 15: Dallas Stars: 1.4%
• Seed 16: New York Rangers: 1%

Although there are technically 16 teams listed, the lottery will be redrawn if Arizona Coyotes get picked. This is because Arizona has been forced to forfeit a first-round pick as a penalty for violating the combine testing policy for the league in 2019/2020.

The rules are set to change for the draft from 2022 onwards, with teams restricted to two lottery wins in a five-year period and only able to move up a maximum of 10 spots. The NHL has said that these changes are being brought in to protect the worst-performing teams and ensure they are still able to get the best of the picks.

Although the lottery draft could draw a surprise winner for the first and second pick, the top three seeds will all get a pretty decent pick no matter what happens. Here’s a look at who the Sabres, Ducks and Kraken could have their eyes on.

As the top seed, the Buffalo Sabres are guaranteed a top-three pick. This is because this year, only two picks are being drawn via the lottery draft. This means even if their name isn't drawn, they'll be top of the rest, putting them in third spot. 

In 2018, the Sabres had the top pick and nabbed defensemen Rasmus Dahlin. They added centre Dylan Cozens in 2019 from 7th spot and forward Jack Quinn from 8th place last year. Owen Power, Michigan defenseman, is expected to be the top pick this year. If the Sabres manage to slide in at the top of the pile, they'll be adding an imposing player to their strong youth core. Power is known for contributing to the offence while offering up a threatening presence in defence. However, if the Sabres want to snap him up, they'll need to land the first pick as more or less all the teams have their sights set on this young star.

Even if nothing goes their way, the worst pick the Ducks will end up with is 4th, which means they should be able to get a pretty good pick. Of course, as the number 2 seed, the Ducks also have an excellent chance of being one of the teams drawn in the lottery.

This year's draft has plenty of powerful defensemen, and the Ducks may decide to add another to their pick from last year, Jamie Drysdale. However, the offence is the area where they struggled the most, with a lowly 2.21 goals on average per game. Therefore, they may decide to turn their attention to a more offensive player, with Matthew Beniers, the centre from Michigan, the likely candidate.

Despite being brand new to NHL, the Kraken haven’t been hanging around as they’ve already signed up centre free agent Luke Henman. Aged 21 years, Henman has been plying his trade in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and has signed an entry-level deal for the next three years with the newly registered Seattle team.

The Kraken have got the third-best chance of being drawn in the draft lottery, but even if they're unlucky, they'll still end up with a top-five pick. However, who they'll pick in the draft is much less obvious because they'll first have the advantage of the expansion draft. This takes place before the regular draft in July, depending on who they manage to sign up from each club.