A Guide to the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery

The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery is set to take place tonight, and in its 30-year history, the results will be drawn live in-studio. This means that team personnel and viewers will learn the results simultaneously.

Here is what you need to know before tonight’s lottery concludes:

Important Information

The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery is scheduled for Monday, May 5th at 6:00 pm CST. It will be aired on ESPN, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports.

A team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it secures one of the lottery draws, meaning the top 11 seeds are eligible to win the right to the first overall pick.

Teams can improve their draft position in the lottery only twice in five years. A good example of this is if the Chicago Blackhawks win the first overall pick, they will not be eligible to move up in the draft lottery until 2028.

Conditional Picks That Will Be Decided Tonight

The New York Rangers can transfer either their 2025 or 2026 first-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This pick was originally traded to Vancouver for J.T. Miller before Vancouver flipped it to Pittsburgh in a package for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. If the Rangers win the first overall pick tonight and transfer their 2026 first-round pick to Pittsburgh, the 2026 pick will be unprotected.

The Calgary Flames traded their 2025 first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens to dump Sean Monahan’s contract back in August of 2022. If Calgary wins one of the lotteries and moves into the top 10, the Flames will retain this pick and instead transfer Florida’s 2025 first-round pick to Montreal.

2025 Draft Lottery Odds

1. San Jose Sharks (18.5%)
2. Chicago Blackhawks (13.5%)
3. Nashville Predators (11.5%)
4. Philadelphia Flyers (9.5%)
5. Boston Bruins (8.5%)
6. Seattle Kraken (7.5%)
7. Buffalo Sabres (6.5%)
8. Anaheim Ducks (6.0%)
9. Pittsburgh Penguins (5.0%)
10. New York Islanders (3.5%)
11. New York Rangers (3.0%)
12. Detroit Red Wings (2.5%)
13. Columbus Blue Jackets (2.0%)
14. Utah Hockey Club (1.5%)
15. Vancouver Canucks (0.5%)
16. Montreal Canadiens via Calgary (0.5%)

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