2009 NHL Mock Draft Lottery

With the National Hockey League regular season completed, the interest of the teams that did not qualify for the playoffs will be focused on the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery. All non-playoff teams are placed in a lottery, in which there will be one winner. The winner, will move up a maximum of five spots in their draft position, with the 13 losers moving down a maximum of one space. Therefore, the bottom 5 teams all have a chance to draft first overall. This year's prize, the London Knights pnenom, John Tavares. Here's a brief history of the NHL Draft Lottery and its winners during its existence since 1995:

Retaining 1st Overall Pick: Ottawa - 1995, Ottawa - 1996, Boston - 1997, Tampa Bay - 1999, St. Louis - 2006, Tampa Bay - 2008
Move from 2nd to 1st: Never
Move from 3rd to 1st: Tampa Bay - 1998, Atlanta - 2001, Florida - 2002, Washington - 2004
Move from 4th to 1st: Florida - 2003
Move from 5th to 1st: NY Islanders - 2000, Chicago - 2007
Move from 7th to 3rd: Los Angeles - 1995
Move from 8th to 4th: Chicago - 1999

So, with that being said, he are this year's hopefuls in the NHL Draft Lottery, and the percentages each team has of winning. (There are 1000 entries)

30. New York Islanders (25%)
29. Tampa Bay Lightning (18.8%)
28. Colorado Avalanche (14.2%)
27. Atlanta Thrashers (10.7%)
26. Los Angeles Kings (8.1%)
25. Phoenix Coyotes (6.2%)
24. Toronto Maple Leafs (4.7%)
23. Dallas Stars (3.6%)
22. Ottawa Senators (2.7%)
21. Edmonton Oilers (2.1%)
20. Nashville Predators (1.5%)
19. Minnesota Wild (1.1%)
18. Buffalo Sabres (0.8%)
17. Florida Panthers (0.5%)

And when it was all said and done, and 1000 little labeled pieces of papers entered into my own draw, the winner of the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery was :

THE EDMONTON OILERS

As you can see, the Islanders had the best chance to win, but there was a greater percentage they did not, and in this case, for the first time in lottery history, a 10th place team has won. The draft order would in turn, look like this:

1. New York Islanders
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. Atlanta Thrashers
5. Los Angeles Kings
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Phoenix Coyotes
8. Toronto Maple Leafs
9. Dallas Stars
10. Ottawa Senators
11. Nashville Predators
12. Minnesota Wild
13. Buffalo Sabres
14. Florida Panthers

Now the fact that this happens again is extremely unlikely, but a demonstration like this can show you how your team's future can potentially become instantly brighter. Imagine the Oilers scooping western boy Brayden Schenn up with the 6th overall pick. I am sure Maple Leafs fans cringe at the shot. But that's the beauty of the NHL Draft Lottery, anything can happen. Nonetheless, winning the lottery doesn't neccesarily mean you win the top prize.