Pens fans, your ''Stanley Cup finals'' is April 6…

The NHL draft drawing lottery will take place tuesday, april 6 at noon in New York.

Go inside to know how exactly the lottery works…(TSN.ca)

The Draft Drawing will involve picks from clubs that do not qualify for this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, or clubs that acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff clubs.

The Draft Drawing result does not affect the draft order for the remainder of the first round and rounds two through nine.

The club selected in the Draft Drawing may not move up more than four positions in the draft order. Thus the only clubs with the opportunity to receive the first overall selection are the five clubs with the lowest regular-season point totals (or clubs that acquired those clubs’ first-round drafting positions). No club can move down more than one position as a result of the Draft Drawing.

Under the weighted lottery system, the club with the fewest regular-season points will have the greatest chance (25%) of winning the Draft Drawing and will pick no lower than second at the 2004 Entry Draft.

The Draft Drawing will be observed by the independent public accounting firm Ernst & Young.

  • Fourteen balls, numbered 1-14, will be placed in a lottery machine and four will be expelled, forming a series of numbers. A probability chart, created by Bortz & Company, divides the possible combinations among the 14 participating clubs. The four-digit series that results from the expulsion of the balls will be compared to the probability chart to determine the team to which that combination has been assigned.
  • The current percentage chance of being selected in the Draft Drawing is as follows, based on team finish (with current teams position as of March 31):

      30th……….. 25.0% (Pittsburgh)

      29th……….. 18.8% (Washington)

      28th……….. 14.2% (Chicago)

      27th……….. 10.7% (Columbus)

      26th………….8.1% (Phoenix)

      25th………….6.2% (NYRangers)

      24th………….4.7% (Anaheim)

      23rd………….3.6% (Florida)

      22nd………… 2.7% (Carolina)

      21st………….2.1% (Atlanta)

      20th………….1.5% (Minnesota)

      19th………….1.1% (Los Angeles)

      18th………….0.8% (Buffalo)

      17th………….0.5% (NYIslanders)

    There are 1,001 numerical combinations possible, and one combination has been eliminated to make the odds equitable. If the eliminated series of balls is drawn, a 0.1% probability, the drawing will be re-held immediately.

    After the club selected moves up, the balance of the first 14 draft selections are adjusted by one, with the appropriate clubs moving down one slot to accommodate the winner, if necessary.

    The 2004 NHL Entry Draft will take place at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday, June 26 and will be seen live on TSN.

    ——–

    It is already well known that the 1st pick overall SHOULD be russian star Alexander Ovechkin, and when I say ”should” it’s because of the problems the NHL will have in bringing russian prospects to it’s league.

    They seem to prefer, at least some clubs in the Russian league, to negotiate individually as opposed to being paid on a formula basis because they think they make out better that way,”

    ”We informed the IIHF that we don’t have an interest in doing a new player-transfer agreement if they don’t have the Russians included. That’s kind of where it sits right now.” said William Daly, NHL executive vice-president and chief legal officer.

    So that basically mean that if a team like the Pens win the 1st pick, they could try and trade it to a richer team or gamble on the ”second-best” prospect instead on losing Ovechkin for nothing after failing to sign him and pay it’s team in Russia the ”appropriate fees” to make the transfer possible…

    As far as Ovechkin talent goes, here’s what two veteran GM’s had to say about him:

    He is head and shoulders above everyone else in the draft class.” -Craig Patrick (Pittsburgh Penguins)

    He is the best prospect I’ve seen in 20 years in this business.” -Rick Dudley (Florida Panthers)

    It might become a very interesting draft this year after all…

    Comments?

    Marcö's


    Leave a Reply