Anaheim Ducks: Guide to the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery

After tonight, the Anaheim Ducks have a better understanding of where they will be drafting and who they can target at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Happy Draft Lottery Day! It feels like ages since anything good has happened to the Anaheim Ducks. After the sudden halt of the 2019-20 season, and their exclusion from the qualifying round prior to the playoffs, the Draft Lottery has been the event that Ducks fans have been looking forward to for the past 100+ days.

The current format presented by the NHL is rather confusing and sure to spark a lot of controversies at the night’s conclusion. Regardless, Bob Murray and the Anaheim Ducks are already in a spot that will guarantee them a stellar athlete come draft day (which is still TBD.) Nevertheless, fans are still eager to see if the balls bounce in their favor. Will the Anaheim Ducks end up with a Top 3 pick or settle for 8th overall?

Understanding the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery

First Phase: 5 pm PST/8 pm EST

TV: NHL Network, NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVAS

Second Phase: TBD

Odds of Drafting 1st Overall: 8.5%

Excitement is high on the day of the Draft Lottery. The Anaheim Ducks may have had a lousy season, but Bob Murray is certain that this year’s first-round draft selection will make up for it:

"“We’re going to get a good player this year. We’re positive of that.” -Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray"

This year’s unconventional Draft Lottery has sparked a lot of questions from confused fans. How exactly is the Lottery being conducted in the aftermath of COVID-19? Due to their current positioning in the standings, the Top 4 teams from each conference will be excluded from this year’s draft lottery, as is only fair. This includes the: Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Philidelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, and Washington Capitals.

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The First Phase, which will take place tonight (June 26th), will determine which 3 teams will choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The 6 teams (Detroit, Ottawa, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Buffalo, and New Jersey) excluding San Jose, who have already been eliminated from the qualifying round have the best odds in drafting in the Top 3. However, teams eliminated in the qualifying round will be represented by placeholders.

Three drawings will be conducted. Should a team represented by a placeholder be drawn for a Top 3 pick in the Draft Lottery, the NHL will commence to the Second Phase. The Second Phase will consist of a drawing of the 8 eliminated teams who did not qualify for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the one, or multiple, spots, in the Top 3.

Should all 3 lottery picks be given to teams that lose in the qualifiers, picks 4-10 will be given to the bottom 6 teams in inverse order of their point percentage, with the Anaheim Ducks having the potential to fall to 8th overall. If the Top 3 draft selections consist of the bottom 6 teams, the Second Phase will no longer be needed. According to the Anaheim Ducks website, the odds for each losing team in the qualifiers for the first drawing of the Second Phase are 12.5 percent.

Anaheim Ducks Draft Lottery Show

If you’ve missed Kent French and Brian Hayward, don’t miss out on the Anaheim Ducks pre- and post shows hosted by the pair on the Anaheim Ducks Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch platforms. The pre-show will begin at 4:45 pm PST and the post-show will immediately follow the events of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery.

After today, we will have a better understanding of where Bob Murray and the Anaheim Ducks franchise go from here. Where do you think the Ducks will have the privilege of drafting at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft? Let us know in the comments below!

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