The Pittsburgh Penguins slipped down to the No. 11 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in the draft lottery conducted Monday evening.
It still will be their highest selection since 2012, when they claimed defenseman Derrick Pouliot with the eighth overall choice, which had been acquired from Carolina in the Jordan Staal trade a few hours earlier.
The top selection in the draft went to the New York Islanders, who entered the lottery with the 10th-best odds (3.5 percent) of winning it, while Utah secured the No. 2 pick in a follow-up lottery.
Both of those clubs finished behind the Penguins in the overall standings, which is why the Penguins slid two spots in the draft order.
The Penguins, who finished the regular season with the ninth-worst record in the league, entered the lottery with a five percent chance of landing the first pick.
They were one of seven teams still with a chance to get the top selection until the fourth and final ping-pong ball was drawn. The others were San Jose, Chicago, Seattle, Buffalo, Philadelphia and the Islanders.
The lottery was performed in real-time during TV broadcasts in the U.S. and Canada, an apparent attempt to stifle the inevitable conspiracy theories that it had been rigged in favor of whichever team finished in the top spot.
Here is the current order of selection for Round 1 of the draft, which is scheduled to be conducted June 27-28 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles:
1. New York Islanders
2. San Jose
3. Chicago
4. Utah
5. Nashville
6. Philadelphia
7. Boston
8. Seattle
9. Buffalo
10. Anaheim
11. Penguins
12. New York Rangers
13. Detroit
14. Columbus
15. Vancouver
16. Montreal (via trade with Calgary)
The Rangers have the option of giving their first-rounder to the Penguins this year or doing so in 2026, as part of the trade that sent Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to Vancouver.