The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery is scheduled for Monday, May 5, at the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey. The event will be broadcast live at 7 PM ET on ESPN, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports.
This year’s lottery will consist of two phases to determine the first and second overall picks for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft. A limit exists on how far a team can move up in the draft order if they win one of the lottery draws. Only the top 11 seeds are eligible for the first overall pick.
The odds for the first lottery draw have been allocated as follows: San Jose Sharks lead with an 18.5% chance, followed by Chicago Blackhawks at 13.5%, and Nashville Predators at 11.5%. Other teams include Philadelphia Flyers (9.5%), Boston Bruins (8.5%), Seattle Kraken (7.5%), Buffalo Sabres (6.5%), Anaheim Ducks (6.0%), Pittsburgh Penguins (5.0%), NY Islanders (3.5%), NY Rangers* (3.0%), Detroit Red Wings (2.5%), Columbus Blue Jackets (2.0%), Utah Hockey Club (1.5%), Vancouver Canucks (0.5%), and Calgary Flames also at 0.5%.
Pittsburgh Penguins hold a 5% chance of securing the first overall pick with their ninth-best odds in this year’s draft lottery.
The possible outcomes for Pittsburgh include:
– Pick #1 Overall if Pittsburgh wins the first draw.
– Pick #2 Overall if another team seeded 1-11 wins the first draw and then Pittsburgh wins the second draw or if a team seeded 13-16 wins both draws.
– Pick #3 Overall if a team seeded 12 wins both draws.
– Pick #9 Overall is most likely at a probability of 64.4%.
– Pick #10 Overall has a probability of occurring if specific conditions are met during both draws.
– Pick #11 Overall has a small likelihood of happening.
Additionally, due to a trade with Vancouver Canucks on January 31, Pittsburgh potentially owns New York Rangers’ conditional first-round selection currently set as the eleventh overall pick for this year or an unprotected pick in next year’s draft.
The main event, the Upper Deck NHL Draft, will occur over two days starting Friday, June 27 at L.A Live’s Peacock Theater.
