Photo: MGoBlue
The Buffalo Sabres won the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery on Wednesday night and will pick first overall on Friday, July 23. The draft will be held virtually for a second straight year.
The Seattle Kraken, who will play its inaugural season in 2021-22, was the only team to move up from the pre-draft lottery odds and will pick second overall. They entered the lottery with the third-best odds to win it. The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft will take place two nights prior to Round 1 of the draft.
You can view the order of the top-16 picks in the 2021 NHL Draft below:
18-year-old defenseman Owen Powers, who recorded three goals, 16 points, and a +18 rating in 26 games with the University of Michigan’s hockey team this past season, is ranked No. 1 overall by NHL Central Scouting and TSN.
The Sabres, who selected defenseman Rasmus Dahlin first overall in 2018, finished the 2020-21 season five points behind the Anaheim Ducks for second-to-last place in the NHL standings. They have failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for 10 straight seasons, which is the longest active drought in the league.
This marks just the third time in the past 11 draft lotteries that the team with the best odds heading into the draft lottery won it.
The Arizona Coyotes forfeited their 2021 first-round pick for violating the NHL’s Combine testing policy on August 26 and did not participate in Wednesday’s draft lottery despite missing the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
By Harrison Brown
