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The Buffalo Sabre’s are now on the clock, as they won the 2021 NHL entry draft lottery. The second pick will go to the new kids on the block, Seattle Kraken, flipping spots with the Anaheim Ducks, who will select third. The New Jersey Devils are back near the top of the first round, selecting fourth while the Columbus Blue Jackets round out the top 5.
Here is the Order for the first 15 selections, with previous first round picks:
Buffalo Sabre’s – (20’ Jack Quinn, 19’ Dylan Cozens, Ryan Johnson, 18’ Rasmus Dahlin)
Seattle Kraken – (First Franchise Pick Ever!)
Anaheim Ducks – (20’ Jamie Drysdale, 19’ Trevor Zegras, Brayden Tracey, 18’ Isac Lundestrom)
New Jersey Devils – (20’ Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, Shakir Mukhamadullin, 19’ Jack Hughes, 18’ Ty Smith)
Columbus Blue Jackets – (20’ Yegor Chinakhov, 18’ Liam Foudy)
Detroit Red Wings – (20’ Lucas Raymond, 19’ Moritz Seider, 18’ Filip Zadina)
San Jose Sharks – (20’ Ozzy Wiesblatt, 18’ Ryan Merkley)
Los Angeles Kings – (20’ Quinton Byfield, 19’ Alex Turcotte, Tobias Bjornfot, 18’ Rasmus Kapari)
Vancouver Canucks – (19’ Vasili Podkolzin, 18’ Quinn Hughes)
Ottawa Senators – (20’ Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Ridly Greig, 19’ Lassi Thomson, 18’ Brady Tkachuk, Jacob Bernard Docker)
Chicago Blackhawks – (20’ Lukas Reichel, 19’ Kirby Dach, 18’ Adam Boqvist)
Calgary Flames – (20’ Connor Zary, 19’ Jakob Pelletier)
Philadelphia Flyers – (20’ Tyson Foerster, 19’ Cam York, 18’ Joel Farabee, Jay O’Brien)
Dallas Stars – (20’ Mavrick Bourque, 19’ Thomas Harley, 18’ Ty Dellandrea)
New York Rangers – (20’ Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, 19’ Kaapo Kakko, 18’ Vitali Kravtsov, K’Andre Miller, Nils Lundkvist)
How does this affect the Avalanche? Well with the divisions going back to normal next season, having Arizona Coyotes, Dallas and Chicago not win the lottery is a good thing. Nashville, Winnipeg and Minnesota all made the playoffs so they will be picking in the teens and beyond.
Colorado? Where do they pick? No earlier than 28th. And that is an area they will be getting comfortable drafting for the next three to five years.