FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 10, 2020
RANGERS WIN 1ST OVERALL PICK IN PHASE 2 OF NHL DRAFT LOTTERY
NEW YORK (August 10, 2020) -- The New York Rangers have won the first overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft as a result of Phase 2 of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery conducted this evening at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio.
The eight teams that did not advance from the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers participated in Phase 2 of the Lottery, which consisted of a single drawing to assign the first overall selection for the 2020 NHL Draft. All participants had the same probability of being selected (12.5%) and were represented in the lottery machine by one ball with their team logo. The machine randomly selected one ball, which belonged to the Rangers.
This marks the second time in franchise history the Rangers have been selected in the NHL Draft Lottery. They won the Second Draw in 2019, moving from 6th to 2nd, and drafted forward Kaapo Kakko.
The Rangers have made the first overall selection once in NHL Draft history (1965, Andre Veilleux) but will have the opportunity to do so for the first time since the universal draft was adopted in 1969 (all juniors of qualifying age eligible for selection).
The results of Phase 1 of the Draft Lottery, held on June 26, required that Phase 2 be conducted. In the First Draw of Phase 1 to determine the first overall selection, one of the eight ‘placeholders’ - ‘Team E’, in the No. 12 position - was selected. Under the League’s Return to Play Plan, the selection of a ‘placeholder’ team (Nos. 8-15) in any of the three Phase 1 Draws for the first, second and third overall picks, respectively, would require a Draw for the corresponding selection be made in Phase 2 among only the eight Qualifying Round teams that failed to advance.
With the NHL Draft Lottery completed, the remaining selections in the Top 15 are assigned to the 12 participating teams in Phase 1 and 2 that did not win a draw, in inverse order of their points percentages at the time of the season’s pause.
Accordingly, the order of selection for the first 15 drafting positions in the First Round, only, of the 2020 NHL Draft is:
1. New York Rangers 2. Los Angeles Kings 3. Ottawa Senators (from San Jose) 4. Detroit Red Wings 5. Ottawa Senators 6. Anaheim Ducks 7. New Jersey Devils 8. Buffalo Sabres 9. Minnesota Wild 10. Winnipeg Jets 11. Nashville Predators 12. Florida Panthers 13. Carolina Hurricanes (from Toronto) 14. Edmonton Oilers 15. Pittsburgh Penguins (optional to Minnesota)
The remaining 16 selections in Round 1 of the 2020 NHL Draft (Nos. 16-31) will be determined by the results of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Page 2 of 2
Results of Draft Drawings
Year Selected Effect on Draft Order Player Selected 1995 Los Angeles Moved from 7th to 3rd D Aki Berg 1996 Ottawa Retained 1st selection D Chris Phillips 1997 Boston Retained 1st selection C Joe Thornton 1998 Tampa Bay Moved from 3rd to 1st via trades C Vincent Lecavalier 1999 Chicago Moved from 8th to 4th RW Pavel Brendl * 2000 NY Islanders Moved from 5th to 1st G Rick DiPietro 2001 Atlanta Moved from 3rd to 1st LW Ilya Kovalchuk 2002 Florida Moved from 3rd to 1st LW Rick Nash ** 2003 Florida Moved from 4th to 1st G Marc-Andre Fleury *** 2004 Washington Moved from 3rd to 1st LW Alex Ovechkin 2005 Pittsburgh n/a C Sidney Crosby 2006 St. Louis Retained 1st selection D Erik Johnson 2007 Chicago Moved from 5th to 1st RW Patrick Kane 2008 Tampa Bay Retained 1st selection C Steven Stamkos 2009 NY Islanders Retained 1st selection C John Tavares 2010 Edmonton Retained 1st selection LW Taylor Hall 2011 New Jersey Moved from 8th to 4th D Adam Larsson 2012 Edmonton Moved from 2nd to 1st RW Nail Yakupov 2013 Colorado Moved from 2nd to 1st C Nathan MacKinnon 2014 Florida Moved from 2nd to 1st D Aaron Ekblad 2015 Edmonton Moved from 3rd to 1st C Connor McDavid Toronto Retained 1st selection C Auston Matthews 2016 Winnipeg Moved from 6th to 2nd RW Patrik Laine Columbus Moved from 4th to 3rd LW Pierre-Luc Dubois New Jersey Moved from 5th to 1st C Nico Hischier 2017 Philadelphia Moved from 13th to 2nd C Nolan Patrick Dallas Moved from 8th to 3rd D Miro Heiskanen Buffalo Retained 1st selection D Rasmus Dahlin 2018 Carolina Moved from 11th to 2nd RW Andrei Svechnikov
Montreal Moved from 4th to 3rd C Jesperi Kotkaniemi New Jersey Moved from 3rd to 1st C Jack Hughes 2019 NY Rangers Moved from 6th to 2nd RW Kaapo Kakko Chicago Moved from 12th to 3rd C Kirby Dach NYR (Phase 2) Moved from (8th-15th) to 1st 2020 LAK (Phase 1) Moved from 4th to 2nd OTT (Phase 1) Retained 3rd selection
* NY Rangers obtained Chicago’s pick in a trade (via Vancouver and Tampa Bay). The Rangers selected RW Pavel Brendl fourth overall.
** Columbus obtained Florida’s pick in a trade. The Blue Jackets selected LW Rick Nash first overall.
*** Pittsburgh obtained Florida’s pick in a trade. The Penguins selected G Marc-Andre Fleury first overall.
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