New York Islanders Pros And Cons(ish) of Winning 2018 NHL Lottery Draft

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MONTREAL, QC – JANUARY 05: Rasmus Dahlin #8 of Team Sweden skates the puck during the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship bronze medal game against Team Russia at the Bell Centre on January 5, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team Russia defeated Team Sweden 2-1 in overtime and win the bronze medal. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

In three days we’ll find out if the two lottery bound draft picks the New York Islanders hold will return the top pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft. What are the positive and negative(ish) from winning the draft lottery?

Both the New York Islanders and the Calgary Flames didn’t make the playoffs in 2017-18. That means both of their first-round picks are lottery bound. Thankfully for the Islanders, they own both picks.

By sending Travis Hamonic to the Calgary Flames before the start of the 2017-18 season, Garth Snow picked up a first and two second-round picks for Hamonic. At the time there was no way of knowing that Calgary was going to fail to reach the postseason. By all accounts, getting Travis Hamonic gave Calgary one of the best top four defensive cores in the league.

Luckily for the New York Islanders, they weren’t.

The Islanders odds of picking first overall aren’t great. They hold a 3.5 percent chance for their own pick and a 2.5 percent chance with the Flames pick. But if they somehow win the lottery and pick first overall, what’s the pros and cons?

I know its never a bad thing to pick first in the NHL draft. But what if it meant that selecting Rasmus Dahlin would give GM Garth Snow a longer leash and allow him to continue being the Islanders GM for at the very least another year?

Would you sign up for Rasmus Dahlin if it meant that Garth Snow stayed as GM for a 13th year and maybe more?