NHL Draft Lottery Results: Toronto Maple Leafs win 1st overall selection

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the NHL Draft Lottery, holding on to the slot for the first pick in this summer's 2016 NHL Draft. Also winning lottery draws on the night were the Winnipeg Jets, who will pick second, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who will pick third.

Under the league's new format, separate draws were used to determine which of the 14 playoff teams would get each of the top three picks. Winnipeg, originally in the sixth slot, jumps up two spots with their win. Columbus, originally in the fourth slot, jumps up one.

The announcement of the lottery results was held on national TV broadcasts before the Washington Capitals-Pittsburgh Penguins playoff game Saturday evening. Representatives of all 14 lottery-eligible teams were in studio to have their fate read aloud, pick by pick.

In a post-drawing interview on set, Brendan Shanahan admitted he was "still a bit rattled" by the whole process. So goes the drama the league was looking for. (Maybe not as desirable: Shanhan's frank talk about how the Leafs "earned" their favored lottery slot through a season of "rebuilding the right way," which many simply call "tanking.")

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Original draft lottery preview post appears below.

The results of the 2016 NHL draft lottery drawing will be announced during playoff coverage Saturday, April 30, beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. Fans can follow along on NBC, CBC or TVA. (And you can discuss the results/jokes here, separate from our Islanders-Lightning Game 2 recap thread.)

The last-place Toronto Maple Leafs are the "favored" team, with a 20 percent chance of winning the lottery and getting the first-overall selection. But even if they don't win that drawing, they are not guaranteed the second selection: For the first time, the NHL will hold drawings for each of the top three spots. Toronto thus can finish with no worse than the fourth-overall pick.

There is a 13.5 percent chance the Edmonton Oilers win yet another lottery, which would create revolution and bloodshed across the demographics of North America that care more about hockey than they do the 40-yard dash time of some college foot(hand)ball player.

New Format

In August 2014 the NHL changed the lottery format, and for the first time in 2016 the lottery drawing will assign the first three picks of the draft. Three separate drawings will be held.

The NHL also lowered the odds of success for the teams with the fewest points in the regular season. The 30th-place team has a 20-percent chance of winning the top pick; in 2014, prior to the changes, the 30th-place team had a 25-percent chance of winning.

Three draws will be held: the first drawing will determine the club selecting first overall, the second drawing will determine the club selecting second overall and the third drawing will determine the club selecting third overall.

Once a club is assigned a pick through the Draft Lottery Drawing, it is ineligible for further participation in the Drawing; there will be a re-draw for any pick that otherwise would be assigned to a team that already has been selected.

Non-Playoff Teams Lottery Odds

Toronto Maple Leafs 20.0%
Edmonton Oilers 13.5%
Vancouver Canucks 11.5%
Columbus Blue Jackets 9.5%
Calgary Flames 8.5%
Winnipeg Jets 7.5%
Arizona Coyotes 6.5%
Buffalo Sabres 6.0%
Montreal Canadiens 5.0%
Colorado Avalanche 3.5%
New Jersey Devils 3.0%
Ottawa Senators 2.5%
Carolina Hurricanes 2.0%
Boston Bruins 1.0%

The 11 clubs not selected in the Draft Lottery drawing will be assigned draft selections 4 through 14 in inverse order of regular-season points.

Discuss the proceedings here, then enjoy another playoff game as Washington and Pittsburgh meet for Game 2 of their series.