The Wings were one ball away from winning the first or second overall pick

The Wings got the second-worst deal they could’ve out of last night’s draft lottery.

Though their odds of picking in the top three were a little under one-in-five, their odds of picking 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 7th were just about even. They fell on the wrong side of that bracket, dropping two spots after Philadelphia and Dallas jumped upwards to #2 and #3 respectively.

Oh, and they came painfully close to walking away with a much bigger prize than just a simple top-10 pick.

From Mike Johnston of Sportsnet (not to be confused with Mike Johnson, formerly of Sportsnet), here’s how close the Red Wings were to winning it all:

And then they had a shot at second, which ended up…

O.

That’s a gut punch if I’ve ever seen one, and I’ve watched multiple karate videos online.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that it’s the Wings’ highest draft pick in my lifetime (and maybe yours, too.) As well, this whole draft has been an unbelievable crapshoot, so it’s unlikely there would’ve been a saviour coming to Detroit even if 1, 5, 6, and 13 had come up.

Will the Wings have better luck next year?  Will they be in the draft lottery again? It’ll be another two months before an NHL-sanctioned event involving the Wings happens. Enjoy your offseason until then.