The NHL’s draft lottery took place May 5 and the Nashville Predators will select No. 5 overall in the 2025 draft.
The New York Islanders, who had a 3.5% chance to win the No. 1 pick, beat the odds and won in the first draw, jumping nine spots from the pre-draw spot at No. 10. In the draw for No. 2 overall, the Utah Hockey Club jumped from the No. 14 slot to take the No. 4 pick. Because no team can jump more than 10 spots, the San Jose Sharks take No. 2 and the Chicago Blackhawks are No. 3, leaving the Predators at No. 5.
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Selecting at No. 5 overall will give the Predators their highest draft pick since taking Scottie Upshall at No. 6 overall in 2002.
Here’s the full order of the top 16 draft selections at the 2025 draft, which will be held June 27-28.
Nashville has two additional first-round picks in the 2025 draft, both acquired via trade. It owns Tampa’s first-rounder after a trade involving forward Tanner Jeannot in 2023 — that pick is expected to be between No. 22 and No. 26 overall. They also own Vegas’ first-round pick, which came courtesy of the San Jose Sharks in the goaltender Yaroslav Askarov trade.
The Predators have 10 picks in the 2025 draft, with three first-round picks, two second-rounders and two in the sixth.
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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators to pick No. 5 in NHL draft, worst possible draw in lottery