Canes to have first-round pick in 2020 NHL Draft as Leafs fail to win lottery
The Toronto Maple Leafs did not win the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery on Monday, meaning the Carolina Hurricanes will have a first-round pick in the draft.
The New York Rangers won the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft winger Alexis Lafreniere, considered the consensus No. 1 overall selection. The Rangers, in the lottery after losing to the Canes in a postseason qualifying round, also have another first-round pick they obtained from the Canes in the Feb. 24 trade that brought defenseman Brady Skjei to Carolina.
The Hurricanes will have the No. 13 overall selection, obtaining the pick from Toronto as part of the June 22, 2019 trade that sent forward Patrick Marleau from the Leafs to the Canes. Had the Leafs won the lottery, the Canes would have had Toronto’s 2021 first-round selection -- a condition of the trade protecting the Leafs from losing a top-10 pick this year.
The Hurricanes’ trade with the Rangers also was conditional: New York would receive the lesser of the Canes’ two first-round picks, the one acquired from the Leafs or the Canes’ first-rounder.
The Leafs, after losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a qualifier, and the Rangers were two of eight “placeholder” teams with a chance Monday to win the No. 1 overall pick. Had the Leafs won it, the Canes would not have had a first-round pick this year.
The draft is scheduled Oct. 9-10.
The Canes had the No. 28 pick last year, selecting forward Ryan Suzuki. In 2018, Carolina was the biggest lottery winner, jumping from No. 11 to No. 2 and taking forward Andrei Svechnikov.
In the trade with Toronto last year, the Canes also received Toronto’s seventh-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft while giving up their sixth-round selection in the 2020 draft to the Leafs. The Canes bought out Marleau’s contract
In the first phase of the Draft Lottery, held June 26, the Los Angeles Kings took the No. 2 pick and the Ottawa Senators the No. 3 selection. A “placeholder” team from the qualifying round losers took the No. 1 pick, with each of the eight teams have a 12.5-percent chance of winning.
The biggest winner Monday was New York. The biggest draft loser: the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings had the worst record in the league, finishing 23 points behind Ottawa, but wound up with the No. 4 pick in the draft.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
