LBC's Florida Panthers / 2014 NHL Draft Lottery Open Thread
Other fanbases have playoff threads to compose. We have this.
Ready for another exciting round of stick-it-to-the-Cats? We're back at it once again for our sixth-annual draft lottery open thread. The goods:
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly and his Envelopes of Enchantment return to their familiar 90-second role in this evening's broadcast (8 pm ET; NBCSN, TSN). If this year's program comes even somewhat remotely similar to the past few, prepare to request a loved one gouge your eyes out in short order, as the pre-selection drama may only be topped by that unforgettable pizza-balloons-girls-Eklund NHL trade deadline "show" foisted on an unsuspecting Canadian populace by Sportsnet way back in '07: painful fluff, but fluff no less.
Repping the Panthers in-studio will be hockey ops VP Travis Viola.
Among the hot names at the top of June's draft board are Kingston's Sam Bennett, Barrie's Aaron Ekblad, and Kootenay's Sam Reinhart. Which - if any of these three - might Tallon, Inc. fancy? (Final Central Scouting info here)
How it stacks up:
| Buffalo Sabres - 25.0% | Toronto Maple Leafs - 3.6% |
| Florida Panthers - 18.8% | Winnipeg Jets - 2.7% |
| Edmonton Oilers - 14.2% | Anaheim Ducks (from Ottawa) - 2.1% |
| Calgary Flames - 10.7% | New Jersey Devils - 1.5% |
| New York Islanders - 8.1% | Nashville Predators - 1.1% |
| Vancouver Canucks - 6.2% | Phoenix Coyotes - 0.8% |
| Carolina Hurricanes - 4.7% | Washington Capitals - 0.5% |
(New Jersey cannot win, as their position was forfeited due its Kovalchuk cap-circumvention penalty; the Devils will automatically claim the 30th spot in first round.)
Previous drawings:
| Year | Selected | Effect on Draft Order | Player Selected |
| 1995 | Los Angeles | Moved from 7th to 3rd | D Aki Berg |
| 1996 | Ottawa | Retained 1st selection | D Chris Phillips |
| 1997 | Boston | Retained 1st selection | C Joe Thornton |
| 1998 | Tampa Bay | Moved from 3rd to 1st via trades | C Vincent Lecavalier |
| 1999 | Chicago | Moved from 8th to 4th | RW Pavel Brendl * |
| 2000 | NY Islanders | Moved from 5th to 1st | G Rick DiPietro |
| 2001 | Atlanta | Moved from 3rd to 1st | LW Ilya Kovalchuk |
| 2002 | Florida | Moved from 3rd to 1st | LW Rick Nash ** |
| 2003 | Florida | Moved from 4th to 1st | G Marc-Andre Fleury *** |
| 2004 | Washington | Moved from 3rd to 1st | LW Alex Ovechkin |
| 2005 | Pittsburgh | n/a | C Sidney Crosby |
| 2006 | St. Louis | Retained 1st selection | D Erik Johnson |
| 2007 | Chicago | Moved from 5th to 1st | RW Patrick Kane |
| 2008 | Tampa Bay | Retained 1st selection | C Steven Stamkos |
| 2009 | NY Islanders | Retained 1st selection | C John Tavares |
| 2010 | Edmonton | Retained 1st selection | LW Taylor Hall |
| 2011 | New Jersey | Moved from 8th to 4th | D Adam Larsson |
| 2012 | Edmonton | Moved from 2nd to 1st | RW Nail Yakupov |
| 2013 | Colorado | Moved from 2nd to 1st | C Nathan MacKinnon |
Note that in only two instances the club with 2nd selection moved into 1st, and both happened in last two lotteries (and the Cats were shafted in the most recent drawing).
Enjoy :)
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