Chayka on Draft Lottery: 'Picking in the Top 5 is a Win'

TORONTO --General Manager John Chayka knew the Coyotes had only an 11.5 percent chance to win the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery on Saturday night so, when they didn't win it and secured the fifth overall pick instead, he wasn't sulking.
Far from it.
"Everyone wants to win (the lottery), but picking in the top five is a win, and it's an opportunity to add a great player," Chayka said. "We got Clayton Keller at No. 7 (in 2016). He's a high-end player. We expect to get a similar player at No. 5."

Keller, of course, led the Coyotes in goal and point production as a rookie this season and was named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy.
The Coyotes have had just three top-five picks in the annual NHL draft since moving from Winnipeg to Arizona in 1996. They selected Blake Wheeler fifth overall in 2006, Kyle Turris third overall in 2007, and Dylan Strome third overall in 2015.
"Picking fifth, it opens up some other options for us, which can be a good thing," Chayka said. "We're excited about the pick. We have a lot of talented players and we're going to add another talented player."
The 2018 NHL Draft is set for June 22-23 in Dallas. That gives Chayka and his scouting staff less than eight weeks to decide which player they will select at No. 5, should they keep the pick. Last year, Arizona was supposed to pick seventh overall at the draft but traded the pick to the New York Rangers in the deal that brought Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to Arizona.
Buffalo won the draft lottery on Saturday night ahead of runner-up Carolina and third-place finisher Montreal. Ottawa received the fourth overall pick just ahead of Arizona.

The Sabres are expected to draft Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick in Dallas. Experts agree he's the top prospect in this year's draft and that he'll likely make an impact in the NHL next season.
"After the first pick, it's kind of wide open," Chayka said. "There's a lot of good players, so it's our job to get the best one. We're still going through the process and trying to find out exactly which one of those players is the best player. We'll go through the Combine, we'll do some of our interviews, we'll do our testing and we'll continue to talk it over. We're really confident in that group (of players) that we're going to get a top player ... We think we've got a great group. We'll try to supplement that and just keep building this thing up, piece by piece."
Prospects who will likely hear their names called soon after Dahlin include forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Brady Tkachuk, and Filip Zadina, and defensemen Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Quintin Hughes and Adam Boqvist.
Notable players picked fifth overall in past NHL Drafts include: Phil Kessel (2006), Carey Price (2005), and Jaromir Jagr (1990).

After the lottery, reporters on a conference call asked Chayka if he was upset that the Coyotes, who finished the season with the third fewest points, ended up with the fifth overall draft pick, while Carolina and Montreal leapfrogged them.
"I think the system is in place for good reasons," Chayka said. "It's a competitive regular season and you want to keep it competitive. I think it's important for teams to play competitively and try to win every game. I think that's why the system was put in place, and it's kind of running it's course in that sense. Whether I'm a fan of it or not, it's really not important. There's a lot that goes into it, so my personal opinion isn't as important."
He added: "You could always tweak it and there are always different methods and different philosophies, but they all have pros and cons. This is the method that the NHL is going with and I think it works well."