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NHL Draft Lottery signifies a huge opportunity for Colorado Avalanche fans

The Colorado Avalanche have the best odds of landing the top pick and Jack Hughes

By Tom Hunter
Jack Hughes

When the NHL Draft Lottery takes place Tuesday evening in Toronto, four ping-pong balls are going to have a drastic impact on the future of the Colorado Avalanche.

Everyone knows how we got to this point. Thanks to the Matt Duchene trade that took place more than 18 months ago, the Colorado Avalanche hold Ottawa’s first-round pick in the 2019 Entry Draft and right now that pick has the best odds of landing the top spot in the draft - and super prospect Jack Hughes.

The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery Draw of the 2019 NHL Draft Lottery is as follows:

  1. Colorado Avalanche (from OTT) 18.5%
  2. Los Angeles Kings 13.5%
  3. New Jersey Devils 11.5%
  4. Detroit Red Wings 9.5%
  5. Buffalo Sabres 8.5%
  6. New York Rangers 7.5%
  7. Edmonton Oilers 6.5%
  8. Anaheim Ducks 6.0%
  9. Vancouver Canucks 5.0%
  10. Philadelphia Flyers 3.5%
  11. Minnesota Wild 3.0%
  12. Chicago Blackhawks 2.5%
  13. Florida Panthers 2.0%
  14. Arizona Coyotes 1.5%
  15. Montreal Canadiens 1.0%

The lottery will consist of three drawings: the first draw will determine the club selecting first overall, the second draw will determine the club selecting second overall and the third draw will determine the club selecting third overall.

Here is a complete breakdown to land each of the top picks for the 15 teams in the lottery:

Draft lottery odds

In this year’s draft there are two prospects that are head and shoulders above the rest - Hughes and Kaapo Kakko. After that, there is a jumble of about a half dozen players, any of whom could go third overall. While they have a better chance than anyone else, the Avalanche still only have a 35% chance of landing one of those first two picks. The other 65% would result in chaos - and extreme disappointment from fans in Colorado.

The draft lottery owes the Avalanche one. Two seasons ago, Avs fans suffered through the worst season in modern NHL history. The ping pong balls rewarded them by dropping the team to 4th overall in the draft. That pick turned into Cale Makar - so it’s hard to complain - but it still feels like Colorado is owed some luck.

The results of the Draft Lottery will be revealed live by national rights holders NBCSN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports during a one-hour show beginning at 8 p.m. ET.