Arizona Coyotes land 7th pick in NHL draft lottery
A team other than the Oilers won this year's NHL draft lottery.
But it wasn't the Coyotes.
The Maple Leafs secured the No. 1 pick Saturday with the Coyotes slotting seventh, the position they were likely to land in based on regular-season points.
“I’m grateful that we didn’t slip,” said President, CEO and co-owner Anthony LeBlanc, who represented the team at the reveal in Toronto. “We went through that process last year, and that’s a difficult pill to swallow. So I am glad that we stuck at seven.”
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This year’s event featured a new format that used a lottery to award the first three picks rather than only the top choice.
After finishing with the fewest points (69) during the 2015-16 season, Toronto had the best odds (20 percent) and successfully remained No. 1 but the next two spots went to teams that moved up from their initial rankings.
The Jets, who had a 7.5 percent chance of winning the lottery at No.6, climbed to second while the Blue Jackets – who sat at No.4 with a 9.5 percent likelihood – jumped to third. They leapfrogged the Oilers, who had won the lottery four of the previous six years and had the second-best odds at 13.5 percent, and the Canucks (No.3 at 11.5 percent).
Arizona had only a 6.5 percent chance of landing the No.1 pick on the heels of a 78-point performance, its fourth straight non-playoff finish, but the Coyotes could have fallen to 10th if three teams below them grabbed the first three picks.
“Obviously, this was a more emotional (draft lottery) because of the connection to the presumptive No.1 pick,” LeBlanc said.
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Scottsdale native Auston Matthews is projected to go first overall at this summer’s draft, and the possibility of uniting the 18-year-old with the team he grew up idolizing has intrigued the entire hockey community since Matthews emerged as the premier talent among this year's class of prospects.
A 6-foot-2 center, Matthews appears to be NHL-ready after spending last season competing in Switzerland’s top men’s league. In 36 games, he tallied 24 goals and finished with 46 points.
Matthews would become the seventh American taken first overall if he lands in the top spot.
Finnish wingers Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi are also expected to go early in the draft, skilled scorers who could boost an NHL team immediately.
“Obviously, we would have loved to have been in that top-three,” LeBlanc said. “I’m not going to lie.”
Last year, the Coyotes fell to third despite having the second-best chance to win the draft lottery, missing out on the opportunity to add generational talent Connor McDavid or a Hobey Baker Award winner in Jack Eichel. But they were still able to beef up their center-ice position by picking Dylan Strome, who is poised to receive serious consideration for a roster spot in the fall at training camp.
“Our fan base, when we didn’t get one or two last year, was disappointed,” LeBlanc said. “But I think everybody now looks at Dylan and says, ‘Holy, that’s going to be a real NHL star.’ So I think the fact that we’ve gone through that, we’ve seen Dylan’s progress over the last year, it gives us the ability to feel a little more confident."
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The Coyotes have stocked up on forwards in recent drafts, improving their potential up the middle and on the wings, so it’s possible they target defense this go-around. Jakob Chychrun, Olli Juolevi and Charles McAvoy are among some of the top-ranked defenseman by NHL Central Scouting.
“There’s some really exciting defensive prospects in this draft right around where we’re going to pick,” LeBlanc said. “So while we’re all sitting here disappointed because of the fact we didn’t get No.1, from a fan base perspective and from what we’re going to do as a team, this is going to work out OK.”
If the Coyotes retain the pick, this would be only the second time in franchise history they’ve selected seventh. Captain Shane Doan was added at that spot in 1995.
In total, the Coyotes are slated to have seven picks at this draft. Currently, they have two first-rounders after acquiring the Rangers’ selection in the 2015 trade that included defenseman Keith Yandle and winger Anthony Duclair.
The draft is June 24-25 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
“We’re going to get two very good players this year,” LeBlanc said.
Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.
How the NHL draft lottery worked
The NHL used a lottery to distribute the first three draft picks instead of only the top selection like in previous years.
In the first drawing, the Maple Leafs had the best chance of winning (20 percent) after finishing with the fewest points in the regular season (69). Toronto did win the drawing, the first time since 2010 that the team with the highest percentage chance landed the first overall selection (Edmonton).
Odds for the remaining teams increased on a proportionate basis for the ensuring drawings based on which organization won the previous one. Once a team won a pick, it was ineligible for further participation in other potential drawings but no re-draws were required.
In the second drawing, the Jets had the fifth-best chance among the 13 remaining clubs eligible for selection (9.4%) and jumped from No. 6 to No. 2.
And in the third drawing, the Blue Jackets had the third-greatest percentage likelihood among the 12 remaining teams (13.1%). They dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 after the second drawing but were able to climb up to No. 3.
2016 NHL draft order (non-playoff teams)
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. Columbus Blue Jackets
4. Edmonton Oilers
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Calgary Flames
7. Arizona Coyotes
8. Buffalo Sabres
9. Montreal Canadiens
10. Colorado Avalanche
11. New Jersey Devils
12. Ottawa Senators
13. Carolina Hurricanes
14. Boston Bruins