The Draft Lottery is an annual event that is held by the National Hockey League (NHL) to determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the NHL Entry Draft. Incredibly, the lottery assigns odds based on regular-season point totals, giving the team with the fewest points an 18.5% chance of securing the first pick, while the team with the highest point total among non-playoff teams has a 1% chance.
For the 2024 season, the San Jose Sharks were the beneficiaries of the Lottery system and will be having the No. 1 pick heading into the 2024 NHL Draft. This process usually happens while many of the teams are busy in the playoff series, giving time to the non-qualified to improvise their rosters.
List of NHL Lottery Winners till date:
The Los Angeles Kings were the first beneficiaries of the NHL Lottery in 1995. Notably, Aki Berg was the first player to be selected after the Lottery system was adopted. Since then, 42 more players have been selected through the same way. More recently, Connor Bedard was acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks as a result of the lottery.
Over the years, notable players like Connor Bedard, Jack Hughes, Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad, Nathan MacKinnon, John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Erik Johnson, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Marc-Andre Fleury have been selected through the Lottery as the first overall picks.
The following table looks at NHL Lottery Draft Winners over the years:
| Year | Team | Player |
| 2024 | San Jose Sharks | TBD |
| Chicago Blackhawks | TBD | |
| 2023 | Chicago Blackhawks | Connor Bedard |
| Anaheim Ducks | Leo Carlsson | |
| 2022 | Montréal Canadiens | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| New Jersey Devils | Simon Nemec | |
| 2021 | Buffalo Sabres | Owen Power |
| Seattle Kraken | Matty Beniers | |
| 2020 | New York Rangers | Alexis Lafrenière |
| Los Angeles Kings | Quinton Byfield | |
| Ottawa Senators | Tim Stützle | |
| 2019 | New Jersey Devils | Jack Hughes |
| New York Rangers | Kaapo Kakko | |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Kirby Dach | |
| 2018 | Buffalo Sabres | Rasmus Dahlin |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Andrei Svechnikov | |
| Montréal Canadiens | Jesperi Kotkaniemi | |
| 2017 | New Jersey Devils | Nico Hischier |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Nolan Patrick | |
| Dallas Stars | Miro Heiskanen | |
| 2016 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews |
| Winnipeg Jets | Patrik Laine | |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Pierre-Luc Dubois | |
| 2015 | Edmonton Oilers | Connor McDavid |
| 2014 | Florida Panthers | Aaron Ekblad |
| 2013 | Colorado Avalanche | Nathan MacKinnon |
| 2012 | Edmonton Oilers | Nail Yakupov |
| 2011 | New Jersey Devils | Adam Larsson |
| 2010 | Edmonton Oilers | Taylor Hall |
| 2009 | New York Islanders | John Tavares |
| 2008 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Steven Stamkos |
| 2007 | Chicago Blackhawks | Patrick Kane |
| 2006 | St. Louis Blues | Erik Johnson |
| 2005 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Sidney Crosby |
| 2004 | Washington Capitals | Alex Ovechkin |
| 2003 | Florida Panthers | Marc-Andre Fleury |
| 2002 | Florida Panthers | Rick Nash |
| 2001 | Atlanta Thrashers | Ilya Kovalchuk |
| 2000 | New York Islanders | Rick DiPietro |
| 1999 | Chicago Blackhawks | Pavel Brendl |
| 1998 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Vincent Lecavalier |
| 1997 | Boston Bruins | Joe Thornton |
| 1996 | Ottawa Senators | Chris Phillips |
| 1995 | Los Angeles Kings | Aki Berg |
FAQ's On NHL Draft Lottery Winners
A. A player must have been born between January 1, 2004, and September 15, 2006." meaning 18 to 20 years.
A. The NHL Draft will take place at the Sphere in Paradise, Nevada on June 28 and June 29.
A. One can watch the NHL draft lottery on ESPN, NHL Network, SN, and TVA Sports.
A. Macklin Celebrini, a centre from Boston University is considered as one of the top prospects available for the upcoming 2024 Draft.
A. At the conclusion of the regular season, the sixteen teams that did not qualify for the playoffs are entered in a weighted lottery to determine the initial draft picks in the first round. The following rounds see all the teams pick players until the last round is done.
