The Chicago Blackhawks earned a point in their shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. That was their 57th standings point of the season, which ranks 31st in the National Hockey League.
The Nashville Predators currently sit in 30th with 66. Chicago only has two games left, so it is impossible to catch them. The San Jose Sharks, who currently rank 32nd with 51 points, can no longer catch Chicago now that they are up to 57.
That means that Chicago locked itself into the second-best draft lottery odds by being the second-to-last place team in the league. They will have a 13.5% chance of winning the first overall selection.
This upcoming draft isn't like other drafts in the sense that there isn't one guy standing out as a lock to be picked first. There is no Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, or Connor Bedard ready to change a franchise right away.
Instead, there is a clear-cut top four who could go in any order. That is for Chicago scouts to figure out once the results of the lottery are revealed.
This makes it three years in a row that the Blackhawks will have top-three draft lottery odds. Of course, they selected Connor Bedard first overall in 2023 and Artyom Levshunov second overall in 2024. Here in 2025, they'd love to add another franchise pillar.
The lottery will take place during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 2025 NHL Draft will start on June 27th and go through June 28th.
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