There was a lot of movement up the draft order in Monday’s lottery.
None of it, however, involved the Calgary Flames.
That wasn’t exactly a huge surprise, given that they only had a 0.5 per cent chance of winning the NHL Draft Lottery.
For anyone holding out hope, though, the Flames didn’t see their number called. They held on to the No. 16 overall pick, which was immediately flipped to the Montreal Canadiens as one of the conditions of the trade former GM Brad Treliving made when he sent Sean Monahan to the Habs.
The Flames won’t have to wait long to pick after the Canadiens step to the podium on June 27, though, as they’ll select 18th overall thanks to the pick they acquired in the trade that sent Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils.
They also own the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick as a result of the Matthew Tkachuk swap in 2022, but will have to wait to find out where they’re picking until if/when the Panthers are eliminated from the playoffs. It could land anywhere from the early 20s to the 32nd overall pick.
The Flames had no chance of securing the No. 1 overall pick on Monday, but could have moved up 10 spots to sixth overall if they’d won the lottery. If that had happened, they would have kept their pick, which was top-10 protected.
That didn’t play out, but that doesn’t mean the draft lottery was boring. Instead, the format – which had 1,001 possible four-number combinations – did see some high drama, with the New York Islanders getting the No. 1 overall pick despite having only a 3.5 per cent chance, while the Utah Hockey Club moved up to No. 4, even though there was only a 3.1 per cent chance of that happening.
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