Even as the playoffs continue for the Edmonton Oilers and others, there is still plenty going on for the 16 teams which did not qualify. For example, next Tuesday will see this year's NHL draft lottery take place.
As per Josh Gold-Smith of the Score, the San Jose Sharks have the best chance of securing the top draft pick, with official odds of 18.5 percent. However, when you consider that no team can move up more than 10 places if they win one of the lottery draws, it means the Sharks actually have a 25.5 percent chance of getting the first overall pick.
While the draft lottery does not impact the Oilers per se, there will still be some interest in Edmonton, based of the none playoff teams who reside in the Pacific Division. Aside from the Sharks, the Anaheim Ducks have the third-best odds at 11.5 percent, the Seattle Kraken are eighth at 6.0 percent and the Calgary Flames are ninth at 5.0 percent to win the first overall draft pick.
Whilst the draft lottery is not of as much interest to the Oilers and their fans these days, it certainly benefited them at times during the 10-season spell between 2006-07 and 2015-16, when they did not qualify for the playoffs. On three occasions, there were fortunate enough to secure the first overall pick in the NHL draft.
In 2010 the Oilers retained the top pick and selected Taylor Hall, while in 2012 they moved up from second to first and picked Nail Yakupov. However, the most significant and franchise-changing moment came in 2015, when they moved up from third to first and chose a certain Connor McDavid.
While this particular lottery doesn't involve the Oilers, they will of course be involved in the annual NHL draft, which this year takes place on June 28 and 29, in Las Vegas. As things stand they will not be picking until the second round, as they gave up their 2024 first round selection to the Ducks as part of the trade which brought in Sam Carrick on March 6.