Arizona Coyotes fall to third overall pick in NHL draft after Edmonton Oilers win lottery

Not much went right for the Coyotes during the season, and nothing has changed now that they've stopped playing.

The Coyotes' rebuild was dealt a blow Saturday when the team fell to third in the draft order after the Oilers leapfrogged them and the Sabres to win the NHL draft lottery and nab the first overall pick.

"This one stings," President, CEO and co-owner Anthony LeBlanc said.

After failing miserably during the season, amassing 50 losses and accruing only 56 points in one of the worst showings in franchise history, the Coyotes identified a silver lining: the potential to add generational talent Connor McDavid or Hobey Baker Award winner Jack Eichel at the draft June 26-27 at B&T Center in Sunrise, Fla.

They possessed the second-best odds in the lottery (13.5 percent) due to their 29th-place finish, trailing only the No.30 Sabres (20 percent), and would have been guaranteed one of those franchise players if they won the lottery or the Sabres did to keep the order the same.

But their worst-case scenario, a fall to third, happened when the Oilers (backed by an 11.5 percent chance) won the lottery for the fourth time in six years.

"It felt like someone punched me in the stomach," said LeBlanc, who was the team's representative at the event in Toronto.

Actually, LeBlanc watched the lottery ball selection. A winner was determined by an ensuing four-number sequence. That sequence was then matched against a chart that showed all possible combinations and the teams to which each is assigned.

Had the third number of the winning sequence been different, LeBlanc said, the Coyotes would have won the lottery.

"The business boost we would have received had we either moved up or stayed where we were at the second spot, I'm not going to lie, we won't see the bump that I had hoped for in the short-term," LeBlanc said. "But I think in the long-term, we definitely will."

And that's the outlook this draft assumes now.

McDavid and Eichel are considered the only NHL-ready talents, so whoever the Coyotes grab at third isn't expected to jump onto their roster next season. Already, General Manager Don Maloney has mentioned six potential candidates for that spot and the possibility of the Coyotes trading down.

Among the players the Coyotes will mull over are defenseman Noah Hanifin, center Dylan Strome, winger Lawson Crouse, center Mitchell Marner and winger Mikko Rantanen.

Hanifin, Strome, Crouse and Marner are ranked third through sixth, respectively, as the top North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, while Rantanen is the No. 1 European skater.

The Coyotes have long coveted a franchise-type center, but their depth on defense is also a work in progress. Regardless, this will be their highest pick as a franchise since they drafted Kyle Turris third overall in 2007.

"These are equally great players and more than likely would have gone first or would go first if it wasn't for this year's two generational players that were available," LeBlanc said. "That's what the fans need to focus on is the fact that we're still going to get a very good player this year."

Clearly, the addition of McDavid or Eichel would have made the Coyotes' goal of being a playoff team next spring more credible but LeBlanc doesn't believe the lottery results change that timeline.

"We've got our work cut out for us this offseason," he said. "We know that. We've got to make some moves. We gotta do some trades. We gotta make some moves in free agency."

Should their upcoming decisions fail to reassemble the team into a competitive one, another prize awaits the unsuccessful in a year's time. Scottsdale's Auston Matthews, who recently broke Patrick Kane's record for most points in a season with the U.S. National Team Development Program, is already pegged to go first overall in 2016.

But that's a sweepstakes, at least right now, the Coyotes want no part of.

"I obviously don't want us to finish in the bottom five," LeBlanc said. "I don't think we're going to finish in the bottom five. I'm hopeful we don't finish in the bottom 15. But I don't want to be back here again."

2015 NHL draft order (non-playoff teams)

1. Edmonton Oilers

2. Buffalo Sabres

3. Arizona Coyotes

4. Toronto Maple Leafs

5. Carolina Hurricanes

6. New Jersey Devils

7. Philadelphia Flyers

8. Columbus Blue Jackets

9. San Jose Sharks

10. Colorado Avalanche

11. Florida Panthers

12. Dallas Stars

13. Los Angeles Kings

14. Boston Bruins