{"id":540851,"date":"2026-04-04T20:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/540851\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T20:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:16:20","slug":"how-the-canucks-could-fall-into-a-dangerous-lottery-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/540851\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Canucks could fall into a dangerous lottery trap"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Members <\/p>\n

Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Vancouver Canucks and Adam Foote now sit on the best lottery odds, but that top spot has turned shaky more often than fans would like.<\/p>\n

Vancouver finished with the NHL’s worst record, which gives the club a 25.5% shot at first overall in the 2026 Draft Lottery.<\/p>\n

The rest of the math is where it gets tense. The Canucks have an 18.8% chance to pick second and a 55.7% chance to slide to third.<\/p>\n

That part matters because Vancouver cannot fall any lower than third under the current system. The team with the worst record still controls the floor, just not the headline.<\/p>\n

The league has already locked in the date too. The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery is set for May 5, and Sportsnet will carry the broadcast in Canada.<\/p>\n

There is one more rule fans need to keep in mind. A team can move up no more than 10 spots, which is why only the top 11 lottery clubs are eligible for first overall.<\/p>\n

Recent lottery history gives Vancouver a reason to sweat<\/p>\n

Since 2016, the club with the best odds has held first overall only five times: Toronto in 2016, Buffalo in 2018 and 2021, Montreal in 2022, and San Jose in 2024.<\/p>\n

The flipside is what makes this year uncomfortable in Vancouver. New Jersey jumped from fifth to first in 2017, then again from third in 2019.<\/p>\n

Chicago jumped from third to first in 2023, and the Islanders made the loudest move of the bunch in 2025 by climbing from tenth to first.<\/p>\n

That is why the Canucks’ 25.5% is good news and nerve-racking news at the same time. It is the best seat in the room, but it is still far from a lock.<\/p>\n

For Vancouver, this lottery is less about dreaming and more about damage control. First overall is in play, second is very live, and third is still the most likely finish.<\/p>\n

So yes, the Canucks own the best odds heading in. Recent history says that still might not be enough.<\/p>\n

Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

06 MINUTES AGO|1 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

How the Canucks could fall into a dangerous lottery trap<\/p>\n

Will the Canucks actually keep the first overall pick on lottery night ?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Vancouver Canucks and Adam Foote now sit on the best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[40821,3528,894,5,4,591,6308,1757,893,27,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-540851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver-canucks","8":"tag-2026-nhl-draft-lottery","9":"tag-adam-foote","10":"tag-canucks","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-nhl-draft-lottery","14":"tag-patrik-allvin","15":"tag-sportsnet","16":"tag-vancouver","17":"tag-vancouver-canucks","18":"tag-vancouvercanucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116348282542151791","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}