Islanders: Refresher on Phase One and Two of 2020 NHL draft lottery

Phase one of the 2020 NHL draft lottery is coming up this week. Here’s what New York Islanders fans need to know.

The 2020 NHL draft lottery is coming up on Friday, and while the New York Islanders traded their first-round pick in 2020 to the Ottawa Senators for Jean-Gabriel Pageau, they could technically still hold it if they win one of the three picks available in the lottery.

So in preparation for the First Phase of the draft lottery, it’s important to go over how everything is going to go and what will happen over both phases of the draft lottery. And what New York Islanders fans need to know.

2020 NHL Draft Lottery

The first leg of the 2020 NHL draft will take place on Friday, June 26. Fifteen teams will enter the draw for the chance to win the first, second, or third overall pick. But we don’t actually know all fifteen teams in the lottery.

With the 2019-20 shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all 31 teams were ranked based on their points-percentage. The top 24-teams will continue playing for the chance to win the Stanley Cup, while the bottom seven teams are eliminated from the playoffs.

We know those bottom seven teams are in the draft lottery, but that still leaves eight teams to make up the field of 15. The other eight teams will come from the play-in round with all eight losers from the play-in rounds joining the field of 15.

But, because the play-in rounds won’t have taken place by this Friday we don’t actually know what teams make up the rest of the field. So eight place holders have been set for the lottery (Team A to H).

Here are the odds to pull the first overall pick for all fifteen teams:

On Friday, the NHL will conduct what could be the first and only leg of the draft lottery. If all top three picks fall to one of the bottom seven teams the lottery is over. But, if any of the three picks fall to a team outside of the bottom seven a second draft lottery will take place.

Second Phase

Any pick won by a place holder team in the First Phase would be tossed into a new draft where all eight losers in the qualifying rounds have an equal 12.5 percent chance at winning.

So, for example, let’s say that in the First Phase Team B, with a five percent chance at the first overall pick, wins. That will clinch a second phase for all the play-in round losers.

Now, let’s say that the Canadiens, Rangers, Islanders, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, Coyotes, Wild, and Jets all lose in their play-in round. In the Second Phase, all eight teams will have a 12.5 percent chance at winning that first overall pick.

The Second Phase is scheduled to take place between the conclusion of the play-in round and the first round of the playoffs.

Impact for New York Islanders

How does this impact the New York Islanders? For now, the Islanders still hold their first-round pick in 2020. It gets transferred to the Ottawa Senators if the Isles don’t win a top-three pick in 2020.

(If the Isles win a top-three pick in 2020, the Sens get the Isles 2021 first-round pick.)

If a place holder team wins any of the top three picks in the First Phase of the draft lottery and the Isles lose their play-in round against the Florida Panthers, there’s a real good chance that the Isles could wind up with one. Meaning they could keep their 2020 first-round pick.

Winning their play-in round against the Panthers or all three picks falling to one of the bottom seven teams would mean the Isles 2020 pick would transfer to the Ottawa Senators.

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The First Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery can be seen live at 8 pm EST on NBCSN and the NHL Network in the US and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.