The NHL has announced that the NHL Draft Lottery will be on May 5th at the NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio.
The Columbus Blue Jackets find themselves in unfamiliar territory than they have been in the last few years. That unfamiliar territory would be that they can’t win the NHL Draft Lottery.
Per the NHL: “The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery will determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft. Participants are all teams that did not qualify for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs (or the teams that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams).“
“The Lottery will be conducted in two phases, the first to determine the first overall pick in the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft and the second to determine the second overall pick. There is a limit on the total number of selections (10) a team participating in the Draft Lottery can “move up” in the event it wins one of the Lottery Draws. Thus, only the top 11 seeds will be eligible to receive the first overall Draft pick.”
So what does this mean for the Blue Jackets? The CBJ have a 2% chance of winning the first draw of the lottery, and a 0% chance of winning the second draw.
Columbus can only move up as far as #3 in the draft. A far cry from the previous season’s drafts, but that’s because the Jackets defied all expectations and finished just two points shy of a playoff spot.
The CBJ will have two first-round picks in this year’s draft, and many people expect GM Don Waddell to trade one or both picks for roster help.
What should Don Waddell do?
Let us know what you think below.
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