This year’s NHL draft lottery was the first in league history in which all 14 teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs — or the clubs that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams – had a chance at winning the right to the first selection.
The odds of winning the lottery were unchanged from previous years and determined by the teams’ regular-season point totals.
The Tampa Bay Lightning entered Monday night’s draft lottery with a 14.2 percent chance of winning the first overall pick in the 2013 draft. The Hockey Gods did decide that those Stinkin’ Panthers wouldn’t get the top pick. Instead it would be the Colorado Avalanche who were the beneficiary of the lottery ping pong balls.
What does this mean for Lightning fans? It’s time to familiarize yourself with the consensus top three prospects: Seth Jones, Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin.
Jones is a tall, rangy defenseman who is slated to go first overall to the Avalanche. The son of former NBA player Popeye Jones grew up in the Denver area.
MacKinnon is number two on the NHL Central Scouting list, thus, conventional wisdom says the Lightning will select the number three ranked Drouin.
The young playmaker tallied 75 points in 44 games for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL this season and currently has 28 points in 12 playoff games. His linemate in Halifax is none other than MacKinnon.
There are a million things that could happen between now and the draft. The Lightning could decide to trade down, trade up or select a player that is outside of the consensus top three.
The team has shown in the past that it abides by its own ranking system as they selected Slater Koekkoek tenth overall in last year’s draft when higher-rated players were still on the board.
That being said, Bolts GM Steve Yzerman’s draft philosophy leans towards selecting the “best player available” and it’s never a bad time to add a potential franchise forward to the organization.
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