The best news coming out of tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery is the Nashville Predators didn’t take any steps backwards, as they maintained their 4th overall position for the 2013 NHL Draft, taking place in June in New Jersey.
The Colorado Avalanche were the big winners on the night, jumping from the #2 to #1 position in tonight’s selection, giving them the opportunity to pick defenseman Seth Jones. Jones would not only plug a hole on the Avs’ blueline, but as the son of former Denver Nugget (and Tennessee native) Popeye Jones, would bring some crossover name-recognition for Colorado.
For a good primer on the likely top picks, check out TSN’s latest rankings, and the draft section at NHL.com.
The Preds forwarded the following:
The Nashville Predators, represented by President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile, took part in the 2013 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery on Monday night, retaining the fourth overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft.
The 2013 Draft marks just the second time in franchise history the Predators will select in the Top Five. They took David Legwand with the second overall selection with their first-ever pick in 1998. Some notable players taken with the fourth pick include current NHLers Evander Kane and Andrew Ladd (WPG), Alex Pietrangelo (STL), Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) and Roberto Luongo (VAN); former Predator Paul Kariya; and Hall of Famers Steve Yzerman, Ron Francis and Mike Gartner.
Nashville had a 10.7 percent chance of moving up to the first overall selection, a 58 percent chance of holding steady at fourth overall, and a 31.3 percent chance of moving back to the fifth selection.
The 2013 NHL Draft will be held Sunday, June 30, with all seven rounds being conducted on the same day for the first time since 2006. The New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center will host the event.