FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 9, 2019

DEVILS WIN LOTTERY AND FIRST SELECTION IN 2019 NHL DRAFT; RANGERS, BLACKHAWKS LAND 2ND, 3RD OVERALL PICKS

TORONTO (April 9, 2019) -- The , and own the first, second and third overall drafting positions, respectively, for the First Round of the 2019 NHL Draft as a result of the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery Drawing in Toronto.

The clubs that did not qualify for the 2019 Stanley Cup – or the clubs that acquired the first-round picks of the non-playoff clubs – participated in the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery.

The order of selection for the first 15 drafting positions in the First Round, only, of the 2019 NHL Draft is as follows:

1. New Jersey Devils 2. New York Rangers 3. Chicago Blackhawks 4. (from Ottawa) 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

The remaining positions are determined by the results of the .

Three draws were held: the first drawing determined the club selecting first overall, the second drawing determined the club selecting second overall and the third drawing determined the club selecting third overall. Once a club was assigned a pick, it was ineligible for further participation in subsequent drawings.

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Devils Win No. 1 Drafting Position

In the drawing that determined the No. 1 drafting position, the Devils had the 3rd- greatest percentage likelihood of being selected based on inverse order of regular- finish (11.5%). The Devils are the second team in the past five years to jump from the No. 3 position to claim the first overall draft pick (Edmonton, 2015: selected Connor McDavid).

The Devils won the NHL Draft Lottery for the third time, moving from 8 to 4 in 2011 (drafted ) and from 5 to 1 in 2017 (drafted ).

The franchise has made the first overall Draft selection twice, picking Rob Ramage in 1979 (as the Colorado Rockies) and Hischier in 2017.

Rangers Win No. 2 Drafting Position

In the drawing that determined the No. 2 drafting position, the Rangers had the 5th- greatest percentage likelihood among the 14 remaining clubs eligible for selection (8.5%) and climbed from No. 6 to No. 2. The Rangers, selected in the NHL Draft Lottery for the first time in franchise history, become the second team from the No. 6 spot to win a Draft Lottery drawing ( jumped from No. 6 to No. 2 in 2016).

The Rangers have picked No. 2 overall once, selecting future Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Brad Park in 1966.

Blackhawks Win No. 3 Drafting Position

In the drawing that determined the No. 3 drafting position, Chicago had the 10th- greatest percentage likelihood among the 13 remaining clubs eligible for selection (3.1%). The Blackhawks have been selected in the NHL Draft Lottery for the third time in franchise history, jumping from 8 to 4 in 1999 and from 5 to 1 in 2007. They are the first team from the No. 12 spot to win a Draft Lottery drawing.

The Blackhawks have made five selections at No. 3 overall, a list that includes current (2006) as well as club legends Denis Savard (1980) and Ed Olczyk (1984).

For each of the three drawings, 14 balls, numbered 1 to 14, were placed in a lottery machine. The machine randomly selected four balls. The resulting four- series (without regard to selection order) was matched against a chart that shows all possible combinations and the clubs to which each was assigned. The chart showed that the Devils had been assigned the numbers (2-4-10-12) that were expelled in the first drawing, followed by the Rangers (2-5-9-11) in the second drawing and the Blackhawks (2-3-9-11) in the third drawing.

The 2019 NHL Draft will take place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The first round will be held Friday, June 21. Rounds 2-7 will take place Saturday, June 22.

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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 2006 St. Louis Retained 1st selection D 2007 Chicago Moved from 5th to 1st RW 2008 Tampa Bay Retained 1st selection C 2009 NY Islanders Retained 1st selection C 2010 Edmonton Retained 1st selection LW 2011 New Jersey Moved from 8th to 4th D Adam Larsson 2012 Edmonton Moved from 2nd to 1st RW 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

2016 Toronto Retained 1st selection C 2016 Winnipeg Moved from No. 6 to No. 2 RW 2016 Columbus Moved from No. 4 to No. 3 LW Pierre-Luc Dubois

2017 New Jersey Moved from No. 5 to No. 1 C Nico Hischier 2017 Philadelphia Moved from No. 13 to No. 2 C 2017 Dallas Moved from No. 8 to No. 3 D Miro Heiskanen

2018 Buffalo Retained 1st selection D 2018 Carolina Moved from No. 11 to No. 2 RW Andrei Svechnikov 2018 Montreal Moved from No. 4 to No. 3 C Jesperi Kotkaniemi

2019 New Jersey Moved from No. 3 to No. 1 2019 NY Rangers Moved from No. 6 to No. 2 2019 Chicago Moved from No. 12 to No. 3

* 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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