The bright side of this disappointing season for the Nashville Predators is the fact that they may well land the highest draft pick this summer since David Legwand was taken 2nd overall in the 1998 NHL Draft. How high might the Preds land on the draft board? Let’s take a look…
This year the NHL is holding a lottery on April 29 which gives all 14 teams that fail to make the playoffs a chance at the 1st overall choice, with the odds weighted towards each team’s finish in the overall league standings:
Austin Watson (18th)
Ryan Ellis (11th)
Colin Wilson (7th)
Chet Pickard (18th)
Jonathon Blum (23rd)
Ryan Parent (18th)
Alex Radulov (15th)
Ryan Suter (7th)
Scottie Upshall (6th)
Dan Hamhuis (12th)
Scott Hartnell (6th)
Brian Finley (6th)
David Legwand (2nd)
Team 1 25.0%
Team 2 18.8%
Team 3 14.2%
Team 4 10.7%
Team 5 8.1%
Team 6 6.2%
Team 7 4.7%
Team 8 3.6%
Team 9 2.7%
Team 10 2.1%
Team 11 1.5%
Team 12 1.1%
Team 13 0.8%
Team 14 0.5%
— NHL.com
Basically the lucky winner moves up to #1, while the rest of the group either stays where they are or gets bumped back one spot.
Currently, the Predators would qualify as Team 7, but thanks to their having played more games than the teams around them, there’s hope that other teams could pass them by. It’s an awkward position, certainly, as you want your own team to do well, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping that the other basement-dwellers do better, right?
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Diff |
| New Jersey Devils | 40 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 40 | 13 | 96 | 111 | -15 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 40 | 16 | 17 | 7 | 39 | 14 | 102 | 111 | -9 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 40 | 16 | 18 | 6 | 38 | 11 | 106 | 122 | -16 |
| Nashville Predators | 41 | 15 | 18 | 8 | 38 | 13 | 96 | 110 | -14 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 39 | 17 | 19 | 3 | 37 | 16 | 107 | 122 | -15 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 39 | 17 | 20 | 2 | 36 | 16 | 124 | 116 | +8 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 39 | 16 | 21 | 2 | 34 | 16 | 102 | 126 | -24 |
| Calgary Flames | 39 | 14 | 21 | 4 | 32 | 14 | 103 | 138 | -35 |
| Florida Panthers | 39 | 13 | 20 | 6 | 32 | 10 | 96 | 132 | -36 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 40 | 13 | 22 | 5 | 31 | 12 | 94 | 125 | -31 |
Looking at the teams around Nashville in the standings, there’s a decent chance that both Philadelphia and Tampa Bay could pass them in the standings, and Carolina might be a possibility, too. That would give the Predators an 8-10% chance of landing the top pick in the draft, which would certainly give their rebuild a bit of added momentum.
So if you need someone to cheer for while scoreboard watching, pull for the Flyers (who host Ottawa tonight), Tampa Bay (which hosts Pittsburgh) and Carolina (which plays at Washington).