Oilers win draft lottery, set to pick first

Aaron Vickers2015 Draft Center

After winning the lottery, the Edmonton Oilers will select first in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Entering the lottery, Edmonton had an 11.5 percent chance, third-best, to win the first pick in the draft, held June 26 & 27 at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

The National Hockey League changed the lottery format in August, adjusting the odds of winning the first overall selection. The 10 highest-finishing non-playoff teams will receive higher odds of winning than they received in previous years. Conversely, the four lowest-finishing teams received lower odds.

All 14 non-playoff teams were randomly assigned a set of four-number combinations using numbers 1-14. The amount of number combinations a team was assigned were determined by the revised odds system.

It’s the fourth time in the past six years the Oilers will own the first overall pick. Previous top picks of Edmonton include Taylor Hall (2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011) and Nail Yakupov (2012).

Connor McDavid, ranked first by Future Considerations, is expected to be the first overall pick in 2015.