The 2019 NHL Draft has been shaken up a bit after the draft lottery. Let’s take a look at the updated first-round draft order.
The 2019 NHL Draft Lottery didn’t go as expected. We saw two teams jump into the top three, including one of them from the top 10. The other one came from outside the top five. So what does the rest of the first round of the draft order look like?
We now know the first 15 picks. The remaining 16 picks will be determined by how the Stanley Cup Playoffs go. Let’s take a look at the updated draft order.
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First Three Picks
- New Jersey Devils – For the second time in three years, the Devils have won the draft lottery. Taylor Hall has more than just a rabbit foot. He has a whole darn rabbit farm at this point. The Devils will likely go with Jack Hughes, which, along with 2017 first overall pick Nico Hischier, should give them a great duo down the middle.
- New York Rangers – Sorry Rangers, only one league is willing to fix a draft lottery to help a struggling New York sports team. Kappo Kakko isn’t Hughes, but he still projects to be a top-notch talent. He’s playing at wing overseas, but it’s worth noting he has experience at center. For what it’s worth, Kakko has been quite good in limited stints at center.
- Chicago Blackhawks – About time the same team who got Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in consecutive drafts get a lucky break, huh? The Blackhawks moved all the way up from outside the top 10 to potentially get Vasily Podkolzin or Trevor Zegras.
Rest Of The Lottery Picks
4. Colorado Avalanche – Tough break for the Avs, but they’re in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so it’s hard to feel bad for them. The Matt Duchene trade suddenly doesn’t look historically bad for the Ottawa Senators. Pierre Dorion’s gamble to take Brady Tkachuk over this year’s pick paid off.
5. Los Angeles Kings – The Los Angeles Kings need young talent. Good for them for getting a top five pick.
6. Detroit Red Wings – Let’s be honest, everyone thought the lottery was going to be fixed to get Hughes to the Red Wings. Detroit got a cruel fate because they didn’t lay down and tank in the last weeks like other teams did. Give them credit for that.
7. Buffalo Sabres – The Sabres continue their unfortunate streak. They’ve been in the top eight in every draft since 2013. The Sabres narrowly missed out on getting their favorite draft pick, the eighth overall pick. The seventh overall pick will work for them, though.
8. Edmonton Oilers – People would have rioted if the Oilers had gotten the first overall pick. Still, this is a nice pick to have, as it’s a deep draft.
9. Anaheim Ducks – The Anaheim Ducks have terrible luck in the draft lottery. They dropped one spot to ninth.
10. Vancouver Canucks – Speaking of teams with horrible luck in the draft lottery, how about the Canucks? They’ve got to get a top three pick at some point, right? Then again, with Elias Pettersson, maybe they don’t need one.
11. Philadelphia Flyers – In 2016, the Flyers moved all the way up to number two. They weren’t as fortunate this year.
12. Minnesota Wild – It’s been a while since the Minnesota Wild had a first-round pick this high. They’ve had good luck whenever they’ve had high picks as of late, though.
13. Florida Panthers – Apparently Joel Quenneville’s mustache isn’t good luck.
14. Arizona Coyotes – One day, you know the NHL is going to fix a draft to get the Coyotes a star. It’s going to happen. Won’t be this year, though.
15. Montreal Canadiens – Welcome to purgatory, Canadiens fans. Your team is too good to have a high pick, yet too bad to make the postseason in the NHL’s flawed playoff format.