The Draft Lottery has been lotterized and here’s where it fell:

14 – Boston Bruins

13 – Carolina Hurricanes

12 – Ottawa Senators

11 – New Jersey Devils

The NHL 2016 Draft’s top 10…

10 – Colorado Avalanche

9 – Montreal Canadiens

8 – Buffalo Sabres

7 – Arizona Coyotes

6 – Calgary Flames

5 – Vancouver Canucks

4 – Edmonton Oilers

Your Lottery Winners for the 2016 NHL Draft

3 – Columbus Blue Jackets

2 – Winnipeg Jets

1 – Toronto Maple Leafs

What these results mean:

Toronto will have its choice of Auston Mathews or Patrick Laine, whichever Mike Babcock sees as having a better future in our league. That’s a pretty good place to be, and while neither of them are a Connor McDavid, both are perfectly fine prospects and will most likely be league ready when drafted. With Babcock at the helm, they could both develop into great players as well.

Winnipeg ends up with the sloppy seconds, sloppy seconds they should be glad to have. With how competitive the Central division is – three out of four in the Western Conference Semi-Finals this year are from the division – the Jets should be glad to have any advantage they can. With the number two pick and a high teen from the Blackhawks exiting early, the Jets have gotten just that.

Four of the top five picks belong to Canadian teams. Edmonton ended up not winning the draft lottery, which means the league gets to continue using the device. The wave of insanity that would have spread had Edmonton won again would have destabilized the league. Vancouver gets a high draft pick, and with the Sedins retiring soon (it is coming, right? Please tell me I’m right), they’re going to need it.

Two of the top ten picks belong to the Central Division. Four belong to the Pacific. Three belong to the Atlantic, and only one belongs to the Metro. This means that the Metro will most likely improve the least, because the Columbus Blue Jackets will end up with the highest pick in the division, and they were already a young and upcoming team. The expectations for them have been set just that little bit higher, and teams will be prepared for that.

I’m just upset because the Blackhawks won’t have a first round pick (one which would be rather high) and I remind myself of that every day after getting excited. Stupid Andrew Ladd. I doubted that move from the very start. I sometimes hate being right.