If the season ended today, the Bruins would head into the lottery with the 9th overall selection. They would also own the 18th pick of the draft by virtue of last summer’s trade of goaltender Martin Jones to the San Jose Sharks (looks like coin well spent on the part of Sharks GM Doug Wilson and Co.)
Boston got off to a brutal 0-3 start (all three losses coming at home), but have balanced that out with three strong road victories after blowing their best chance to get off the TD Garden schneid after giving up a two-goal lead against the Philadelphia Flyers in the third period last week.
The Sharks got off to a blistering start, thanks in large part to Jones’ brilliance between the pipes, but a recent leg injury to Logan Couture, along with other injuries have brought San Jose back down to earth a bit. In the first 7 games of the season, it appears that neither the Bruins nor the Sharks are as bad or as good as the first week indicated they would be.
Based on league-instituted changes, the 2016 NHL draft lottery will have a different system to discourage blatant “tanking” in an effort to land the top selection. Interestingly enough, the Buffalo Sabres did not benefit from their own lousy season a year ago, as they were leapfrogged by the Edmonton Oilers in the Connor McDavid sweeps (and they knew they would get Jack Eichel no matter what, so 2015 was the year for something like that to happen if you were Buffalo). With the ability now for the worst finisher to pick as low as fourth overall, that’s a significant enough drop to make sure teams don’t just mail it in. It also opens the door for better teams to jump up and grab the coveted brass ring if the lottery balls break their way. Toronto Maple Leafs conspiracy theorists unite!
| Non-Playoff Team (Fewest Pts. to Most) |
New Draft Lottery Odds | Odds Under Former Allocation |
| 1 | 20.0% | 25.0% |
| 2 | 13.5% | 18.8% |
| 3 | 11.5% | 14.2% |
| 4 | 9.5% | 10.7% |
| 5 | 8.5% | 8.1% |
| 6 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
| 7 | 6.5% | 4.7% |
| 8 | 6.0% | 3.6% |
| 9 | 5.0% | 2.7% |
| 10 | 3.5% | 2.1% |
| 11 | 3.0% | 1.5% |
| 12 | 2.5% | 1.1% |
| 13 | 2.0% | 0.8% |
| 14 | 1.0% | 0.5% |
2016 NHL Draft Lottery
Beginning in 2016, the Draft Lottery will be utilized to assign the top three drafting slots in the NHL Draft, an expansion over previous years when the Draft Lottery was used to determine the winner of the first overall selection only.
Three draws will be held: the 1st Lottery draw will determine the Club selecting first overall, the 2nd Lottery draw will determine the Club selecting second overall and the 3rd Lottery draw will determine the club selecting third overall.
As a result of this change, the team earning the fewest points during the regular season will no longer be guaranteed, at worst, the second overall pick. That club could fall as low as fourth overall.
The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery draw will be the same as outlined above for the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery. The odds for the remaining teams will increase on a proportionate basis for the 2nd Lottery draw, based on which Club wins the 1st Lottery draw, and again for the 3rd Lottery draw, based on which Club wins the 2nd Lottery draw.
The 11 clubs not selected in the Draft Lottery will be assigned NHL Draft selections 4 through 14, in inverse order of regular-season points.
Boston’s 2016 draft selections by round as of 10/26/15:
1st round- 9th (BOS)
1st round- 18th (SJS- for Martin Jones)
2nd round- 52nd (NYI- for Johnny Boychuk)
3rd round- 69th (BOS)
4th round- 99th (BOS)
5th round- 129th (BOS)
5th round- 141st (MIN- for 5th round in 2015)
6th round- 159th (BOS- reaquired from COL for Carl Soderberg)
7th round- 189th (BOS)
*BOS 2nd-round pick (39th) to TBL for Brett Connolly
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