As the NHL's top teams prepare for the playoffs and the long road to the Stanley Cup begin on Wednesday, the league's bottom teams had their chance at glory on Tuesday night at the league's draft lottery drawing.
The draft lottery presents a beacon of hope for the 15 NHL teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs, giving each of them a shot at landing the top pick (or at least a top-three selection) in this summer's NHL Draft. Those teams were entered into the league's lottery drawing, which determines the order of draft picks 1-15.
Entering the night, the Colorado Avalanche had the best odds (18.5 percent) at snagging the first overall pick. That selection originally belonged to the Ottawa Senators, who finished this season with the league's worst record but surrendered the pick to Colorado in the 2017 deal that sent Matt Duchene to the Sens.
However, Colorado fell to the lowest selection they possibly could have (4th) due to the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils all defying the odds and jumping into the top three. In the end, it was the Devils who ended up securing the top overall pick; New Jersey entered the night with the third-best odds (11.5 percent) to pick in that spot.
It's the second time in three years that the Devils have defied the odds and wound up with the first overall pick. New Jersey took Nico Hischier with the top pick in 2017 after jumping to No. 1 with the fifth-best odds in the lottery.
Here's a full recap of the lottery order:
The projected top pick in this year's draft is American center Jack Hughes. The skilled 17-year-old playmaker has been playing in the United States' National Development program. He's the younger brother of Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes.
This year's NHL Draft will kick off on June 21 in Vancouver.
