NHL Draft Lottery History Ahead of Tuesday Draw

The NHL draft lottery, set for Tuesday, offers non-playoff teams a chance to secure the No. 1 pick in the upcoming entry draft, continuing a tradition that began in 1995 and has reshaped franchises through random chance.

Introduced a decade after the NBA's inaugural lottery that awarded Patrick Ewing to New York, the NHL version debuted with less fanfare under Commissioner Gary Bettman, a former basketball executive. In its first year, the Los Angeles Kings drew the lone lottery ball, jumping from seventh to third overall. Ottawa Senators, who had the league's worst record, retained the top pick. "It wasn't really suspenseful," Senators general manager Randy Sexton said at the time. "We had a list of the random numbers and everybody tried to pretend that they really didn't care, but as the numbers started to pop up, everybody started to try and figure out which number fell in their realm."

Unlike the more volatile NBA system, the NHL lottery long limited movement: only one team advanced, no more than four spots before 2013, with others dropping at most one position. A 2005 lockout exception opened it to all 30 teams, awarding Pittsburgh the rights to Sidney Crosby. Today's...