How the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery Works

The NHL announced the protocol for the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery, with its first phase held June 26.

The Lottery will take place at 5 pm and will be televised live by NBCSN and the NHL Network (U.S.), Sportsnet and TVA (Canada).

Currently in the No. 4 spot, the LA Kings have a 9.5 percent chance of moving up to the top spot in the NHL Draft.

The Lottery will determine the first 15 picks in the 2020 NHL Draft based on 3-6 drawings over one or two phases. It will include the seven teams that did not qualify for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, plus eight teams that lose in the Qualifying Round.

The First Phase of the draft lottery will be held June 26, prior to the Qualifying Round. It will consist of three drawings and include the seven teams that did not qualify for the postseason and eight placeholder positions.

The lottery odds for the seven non-playoff teams were determined by their point percentage during the 2019-20 regular season, which was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and ended Tuesday with the Return to Play Plan announcement.

The eight potential losing teams from the Qualifying Round will be represented in the First Phase of the draft lottery as unassigned picks.

The first drawing of the First Phase will set the team selecting No. 1 in the draft, the second drawing will set the team selecting No. 2, and the third drawing will set the team selecting No. 3.

If a team not in the bottom seven wins any of the first three drawings, a Second Phase will be conducted among the eight teams eliminated in the Qualifying Round. That would take place between the end of the Qualifying Round and the first round of the playoffs.

After the first drawing, the odds for the remaining teams will increase on a proportionate basis for the second drawing, and again for the third drawing, based on which team wins the second drawing.

If each of the three First Phase drawings is won by a bottom-seven team, the Second Phase will not be necessary. The remaining four teams from the bottom seven will be assigned picks No. 4-7 in inverse order of their regular-season point percentage, and picks No. 8-15 will be assigned to the teams that are eliminated from the Qualifying Round in inverse order of their point percentage.

If a Qualifying Round losing team wins each of the top three picks, the bottom seven teams will be assigned picks No. 4-10 in inverse order of their point percentage.

If a Qualifying Round losing team wins one or two of the top three picks, any bottom-seven team not in the top three will be assigned their pick in inverse order of point percentage.

The number of drawings in the Second Phase would depend on how many picks in the First Phase are won by teams that lost in the Qualifying Round.

The odds for each losing team in the Qualifying Round for the first drawing of the Second Phase, determined by inverse order of regular-season point percentage:

| Draft Position
Team A
Team B
Team C
Team D
Team E
Team F
Team G
Team H | Odds
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
12.5% |