Participants in the Draft Lottery included the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who begin play in the 2017-18 season, and all Clubs that did not qualify for this season's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Under the terms of expansion, the Golden Knights were afforded the same lottery odds as the Club finishing the regular season with the third-worst record (28th place, the Arizona Coyotes) and slotted ahead of that Club in the event neither was selected for any of the top three overall drafting positions.
Accordingly, with the elevation of the Devils, Flyers and Stars as a result of the Draft Lottery, the Golden Knights and Coyotes own the sixth and seventh drafting positions, respectively, in the first round.
The order of selection for the first 15 drafting positions in the First Round, only, of the 2017 NHL Draft is as follows:
The remaining positions are determined by the results of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Three draws were held: the first drawing determined the club selecting first overall, the second drawing determined the club selecting second overall and the third drawing determined the club selecting third overall. Once a club was assigned a pick, it was ineligible for further participation in subsequent drawings, but there were no re-draws required.
To accommodate the addition of a 15th team in the Draft Lottery, the odds for all other participating teams were reduced proportionally from the odds utilized in last year's Draft Lottery.
