New York Islanders pro scouting director Ken Morrow knows a thing or two about so-called hockey miracles.
Witnessing the Islanders win the NHL draft lottery on Monday and vault nine other teams in the order for the right to have the No. 1 pick represented yet another memorable moment for the four-time Stanley Cup champion and member of the 1980 gold-medal-winning “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic team.
“I’ve had a lot of thrills in my hockey life, but this is right up there at the top,” Morrow said. “The hockey gods smiled on us. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for Islanders fans, for our ownership, for the entire Islanders organization.”
The Islanders, who missed the playoffs for the second time in four seasons, are in the midst of a front-office shakeup after not renewing general manager Lou Lamoriello’s contract on April 22. And they earned a remarkable lottery win by entering the day with a 3.5% shot — the 10th-best odds — of seeing their numbers come up.
New York wasn't the only team to buck the lottery odds. The Utah Hockey Club won the second round of the lottery, and made the jump from 14th to fourth under the rules limiting teams from moving up no more than 10 spots in the draft order.
“A couple of seconds ago, we were just like 10 back, so it still hasn’t sunk in,” Utah GM Bill Armstrong said of a first-year franchise that finished just seven points out of a playoff spot. “This is an exciting moment for us. It’s a game-changer for us.”
The San Jose Sharks will pick second after entering the day with the best odds, 18.5%, to win the lottery and a 25.5% chance of landing the No. 1 choice. San Jose, which finished last for a second consecutive year, was seeking to become the NHL’s first team to win the lottery and pick first in consecutive years.
“We definitely lucked it out last year to be able to select Mac,” Sharks GM Mike Grier said in referring to selecting Boston University center Macklin Celebrini first overall. “This year would have obviously been nice to have the pick and have the choice of all the players. But picking two, we’re still in a pretty good spot so we’re happy.”
The Chicago Blackhawks had the second-best chances to win the lottery and will pick third. The remaining 12 teams moved two spots back in the order, starting with Nashville dropping from third to fifth. The final 16 draft spots will be determined following the playoffs.
The Islanders have the right to pick first for the fifth time in team history, and first since selecting John Tavares with the No. 1 choice in 2009.
This year’s draft will be held in Los Angeles with the first round taking place on June 27, followed by the final six rounds the next day. Top prospects will convene for the weeklong predraft combine being held in Buffalo next month.
The prospect pool is not considered as deep at the top as last year’s class, or next year’s group, with Canadian junior forward Gavin McKenna long regarded as the No. 1 candidate.
Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer is NHL Central Scouting’s top-ranked North American prospect followed by OHL Saginaw center Michael Misa and Boston College center James Hagens, the top-ranked U.S. born prospect. Hagens is from Long Island and grew up an Islanders fan.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, Schaefer maintained his No. 1 position despite missing the final three months of the season after breaking his right collarbone representing Canada at the world junior championships in December.
Schaefer has the potential of becoming only the fifth defenseman selected No. 1 since 2000, and first since Buffalo chose Owen Power in 2021. And he also has the chance of being the first OHL player to go No. 1 since Edmonton drafted Erie’s Connor McDavid in 2015.
The top-ranked international skaters are center Anton Frondell and right wing Victor Eklund, who are teammates with Djurgarden of Sweden’s second division league.
New York’s jump from 10th to first is the biggest involving a team winning the No. 1 selection. And it comes after the last-place team won the lottery to retain the first pick in four of the past five years and 12 times overall since the NHL launched the format in 1995.
The New York Rangers enjoyed the previous largest move up to No. 1 in 2020, when they were grouped among eight teams — ranked eighth to 15th — with the same odds to win the lottery after being eliminated in the COVID-altered play-in round of the expanded 24-team playoff format.
The lottery was held at the NHL Network studios in New Jersey, and conducted live for the first time in the event’s 30-year history. Previously, the lottery was held shortly before the broadcast in front of a limited audience of sequestered observers, followed by the draft selections being revealed in reverse order.
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and AP sports writer Josh Dubow contributed to this story.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
John Wawrow, The Associated Press
