New York Islanders Wasted Chance to Improve Draft Lottery Odds

With the conclusion of the 2017-18 NHL season the New York Islanders lottery draft odds have been solidified. And they aren’t great. They can’t even tank right.

Organic growth was going to be the key for the New York Islanders. The commitment to excellence was going to propel them to the upper echelons of the NHL world. Or at least they should.

That’s what we were all told two seasons ago by new majority co-owner John Ledecky after the New York Islanders were eliminated from the second round of the 2016 playoffs.

Two season’s later the Islanders have taken two steps back. Missing the playoffs by a single point last season, and now missing out by a 17 point margin. So all we have to look forward too as a positive is the draft lottery. Where the NHL rewards terrible franchises with a blue-chip prospect. Maybe, remember

Nail Yakupov

was a first overall pick just four years ago.

What Are The Odds?

All 82 games have been played in the 2017-18 NHL season and the New York Islanders find themselves with two lottery picks. Both the Islanders and the Calgary Flames were so bad this year that they get a chance to add a big piece to their roster.

More from Eyes On Isles

• Islanders: Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock Could Be Olympic Bound
• Islanders key to success: Load management with goalies
• Islanders Zdeno Chara trending in the right direction
• Islanders: Semyon Varlamov Deserves Benefit of the Doubt
• Islanders Ilya Sorokin becoming number one goalie

But with three wins in their final three games, the Islanders didn’t exactly help their chances in the lottery. There was no way they’d fall so far as to get some of the double-digit odds. But their slim chances got slimmer by game 82.

With the conclusion of the season, the New York Islanders find themselves with a 3.5 percent chance at picking first overall and 11.4 percent chance at picking in the top three. Thanks to the Travis Hamonic trade they also get another 2.5 percent chance at picking first overall and another 8.4 percent at picking in the top three.

Winning those three games didn’t help them. Edmonton, the team just behind the Islanders in the lottery rankings, won two games in a row and only two points back of the Islanders. The Oilers have a five percent chance of selecting first overall.

Those three wins took 1.5 percent off the board for a shot at Rasmus Dahlin. Look, I’m not going to pretend like five percent is a big deal. But it’s certainly better than three. The Islanders couldn’t even tank right.

Next: Top 50 Isles Players of All Time

At least Anders Lee got to hit 40 goals. Ryan Pulock got to the 10 goal mark. At least we have that. At least. We have. That.