Event Broadcast Live on ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports on Monday, May 5, at 7 p.m. ET
NEW YORK – The National Hockey League announced today that the broadcast of the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery on Monday, May 5 will, for the first time in its 30-year history, feature the drawing live in-studio, allowing viewers to follow along and learn the results at the same time as the Draft Lottery participants.
The Draft Lottery will be conducted at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio, with the event broadcast live on ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports at 7 p.m., ET.
The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery will determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft. Participants are all teams that did not qualify for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs (or the teams that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams).
Viewers’ Guide to Live Draw
* The NHL has produced this animated explanatory video as a viewers’ guide to the live draw process.
* The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery will be conducted in two phases, the first to determine the first overall pick in the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft and the second to determine the second overall pick.
* In each phase 14 balls, numbered 1 to 14, will be placed into a lottery machine with four drawn. The resulting four-digit series is matched against a look-up table that lists the 1,000 possible combinations to determine which team was assigned the winning combination.
* The look-up table of the 1,000 four-digit combinations assigned to each team participating in the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery is available on NHL.com. The table also lists combinations by team.
* As each ball is drawn, odds change and teams are eliminated. The viewing audience will learn who is still in the running in real time.
* There is a limit on the total number of selections (10) a team participating in the Draft Lottery can “move up” in the event it wins one of the Lottery Draws. Thus, only the top 11 seeds will be eligible to receive the first overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft.
* The 14 teams not selected in the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery will be assigned the remaining 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft selections (among 1 through 16 in the first round), in inverse order of regular-season points.
* The complete rules governing the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery can be found here.
* To see a recording of the drawings from the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, conducted under the same format, click here.
* A full account of the history of the NHL Draft Lottery since its inception in 1995 is available in the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery Interactive Information Guide.
The allocation of odds for the 1st Lottery Draw of the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery is as follows:
| Draft Lottery Participants (Fewest Points to Most) | Odds | Combinations (Out of 1,000) |
| San Jose Sharks | 18.5% | 185 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 13.5% | 135 |
| Nashville Predators | 11.5% | 115 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 9.5% | 95 |
| Boston Bruins | 8.5% | 85 |
| Seattle Kraken | 7.5% | 75 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 6.5% | 65 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 6.0% | 60 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 5.0% | 50 |
| New York Islanders | 3.5% | 35 |
| New York Rangers* | 3.0% | 30 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 2.5% | 25 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 2.0% | 20 |
| Utah Hockey Club | 1.5% | 15 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 0.5% | 5 |
| Calgary Flames** | 0.5% | 5 |
* Under the terms of a Jan. 31, 2025, trade between NY Rangers and Vancouver, NY Rangers will transfer their 1st-round pick in either the 2025 or 2026 NHL Draft to Vancouver, at NY Rangers’ option.
** Under the terms of an Aug. 18, 2022, trade between Calgary and Montreal, if Calgary’s 1st-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft becomes a top 10 pick as a result of the Draft Lottery, Calgary will instead transfer Florida’s 1st-round pick (previously acquired by Calgary) to Montreal. If Calgary’s 1st-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft is not a top 10 pick following the Draft Lottery, Calgary will transfer that pick to Montreal.
NHL Central Scouting has released its final rankings for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft, where Erie Otters (OHL) defenseman Matthew Schaefer tops the list of North America-based skaters and Djurgarden (Sweden 2nd Division) forward Anton Frondell leads all international-based skaters.
The 2025 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics, showcasing the top draft-eligible North American and international prospects, will be held from June 1-7 at KeyBank Center and LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, N.Y.
The 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft™ at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater will be held over two days: Friday, June 27, at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET (Round 1, live on ESPN, ESPN+, Sportsnet, TVA Sports) and Saturday, June 28, at 9 a.m. PT / noon ET (Rounds 2-7, live on NHL Network, ESPN+, Sportsnet and SN1). Tickets to the event will be available for purchase at www.axs.com/series/27389/nhl-draft-tickets starting Monday, May 5 at 10 a.m. PT.
