Friends, the National Hockey League’s annual draft lottery takes place this coming Monday. Every year, the lottery has an impact on the first round order of the non-playoff teams. However, the overall order of the draft is largely dependent on the regular season performance of the non-playoff teams and the 12 playoff teams that don’t advance to the conference finals.
Here’s a quick rundown of how the NHL generally determines the draft order, and where the Flames are tentatively expected to draft.
The ideal behind the entry draft and its order is the worst teams need the most help to stay competitive, so the draft order – before the lottery – sets the draft order from worst to best in each round.
The draft lottery potentially moves picks around, but only in the first round. For every subsequent round, things default to the formula we described. So if the Flames somehow win the draft lottery, they would only select first overall in the first round, and would otherwise land at ninth spot in every other round.
Some of the Flames’ draft choices have been slotted already, and some could move around a bit. As of Tuesday morning, here’s how things are trending. (Stick-taps to CapFriendly on a lot of these details.)
Pre-lottery, the Flames’ own first-round pick is 9th overall.
The Flames received Vancouver’s first-rounder in the Elias Lindholm trade. Depending on how far Vancouver progresses, the pick could be as low as 25th (if they get eliminated before the conference finals) or as high as 32nd (if they win the Stanley Cup).
The Flames’ own second-round pick is 41st overall.
The Flames received Dallas’ second-rounder in the Chris Tanev trade. Depending on how far Dallas progresses, the pick could be as low as 60th overall (if they get eliminated before the conference finals) or as high as 65th overall (if they win the Stanley Cup).
The Flames’ own third-round pick is 74th overall.
The Flames received Vegas’ third-rounder in the Noah Hanifin trade. If Vegas wins in the first round, this pick converts into a second-round pick in 2025. If Vegas loses in the first round, this pick would be 83rd or 84th overall – 83rd if the NY Islanders survive until the conference finals, otherwise 84th.
The Flames’ own third-round pick is 106th overall.
The Flames received New Jersey’s fourth-rounder in the Elias Lindholm trade with Vancouver, which lands at 107th overall. The Canucks acquired this selection from New Jersey for Curtis Lazar, and the Flames were entitled to the earlier of Vancouver’s fourth-round picks – their own or New Jersey’s – via the Lindholm trade. If Vancouver advances to the conference finals this year, this pick converts to Vancouver’s third-round pick this year (which would be somewhere between 94th and 97th overall).
The Flames’ own sixth-round pick is 169th overall.
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