Red Wings Will Have Fifth-Best Odds for Draft Lottery

The 2017-18 season is behind us, Wings fans, and there is something even more team-changing than this useless season coming our way.

Since the game on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers went to overtime and both teams got a point, the Canucks were able to leapfrog the Red Wings in the standings.

The Canucks and Wings finished the season with the same amount of points, but because of the Regulation/Overtime Wins column, the Wings were able to sneak under the Canucks with only 25 ROWs compared to the Canucks’ 31 this season.

For an understanding of what every team’s chances are, I turn to Micah Blake McCurdy, for a nice visualization of every team’s chances. The Red Wings are in the 27th spot.

As you can see here, the Wings will have an 8.5% chance at the first overall pick, then using the chances if they miss out on the first overall lottery, it becomes 8.7% for the second overall and 8.9% for the third overall pick. Coming together for a whopping 26.1% chance that the Wings will have a top-3 pick at the draft this coming June.

Also seen on the viz, the Wings will not have a pick lower than eighth overall, making this automatically the highest selection the Red Wings have had since 1990, when they selected Keith Primeau third overall.

The Draft Lottery will be televised on Saturday April 28th, I’m sure CBC and Sportsnet will have coverage for those in Canada – Americans can figure it out.

The 2018 NHL Entry Draft will be on June 22nd-23rd, this will more likely be televised for all the Americans out there.

Hopefully we’ll see the player that can turn this team around – no pressure kid.