The New Jersey Devils won the NHL draft lottery, vaulting four teams including the last-place Colorado Avalanche and expansion Vegas Golden Knights for the right to the first pick in the draft.
The Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars both made huge jumps in winning the second and third lottery drawings. Given just a 2.2 percent chance of winning, the Flyers went from the 13th spot to second. The Stars moved from the eighth spot to third in a lottery process that scrambled the final standings.
Colorado entered with the best odds to win the lottery, but fell three spots and will select fourth. And lady luck didn’t side with Vegas. The NHL expansion Golden Knights will select sixth, moving back three spots from where they were slotted. Vegas and its desert rival Arizona Coyotes were each awarded the third-best odds win at 10.3 percent.
The seven-round draft will be held in Chicago on June 23 and 24.