Participants in the NHL Draft Lottery include the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who begin play in the 2017-18 season, and all other clubs that did not qualify for this season's Stanley Cup Playoffs (or clubs that acquired the first-round picks of those non-playoff clubs).
The Golden Knights will be afforded the exact same lottery odds as the team finishing the regular season in 28th place -- or with the third-worst regular-season record. They will be guaranteed no lower than the sixth overall selection.
To accommodate the addition of a 15th team in the NHL Draft Lottery, the odds for all other participating teams have been reduced proportionally from the odds utilized in last year's NHL Draft Lottery.
The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery Draw of the 2017 NHL Draft Lottery is as follows:
\*Vegas assigned same lottery odds as the team finishing the regular season in 28th place
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 12 clubs not selected in the NHL Draft Lottery will be assigned NHL Draft selections 4 through 15, in inverse order of regular-season points.
The 2017 NHL Draft will take place at the United Center in Chicago. The first round will take place on Friday, June 23, and the subsequent rounds (2 through 7) on Saturday, June 24.
