New York Islanders win the NHL draft lottery, securing the No. 1 selection. Sharks will pick second

The New York Islanders won the NHL draft lottery on Monday and vaulted nine teams including the last-place San Jose Sharks in winning the opportunity to have the No pick The Islanders who finished th in the standings and are in the midst of a front-office change overcame having just a chance to winning the lottery New York has the right to pick first for the fifth time in crew history and first since selecting John Tavares with the No pick in Utah won the second lottery drawing and made the jump from th to fourth under the rules limiting teams from moving up no more than spots in the draft order The Sharks will pick second after entering the day with the best odds to win the lottery and a chance of landing the No choice San Jose which finished last for a second consecutive year was seeking to become the NHL s first squad to win the lottery and pick first in consecutive years The Chicago Blackhawks had the second-best chances to win the lottery and will pick third The Islanders jump from th to first is the biggest involving a company winning the No selection And it comes after the last-place squad won the lottery to retain the first pick in four of the past five years The New York Rangers enjoyed the previous largest move up to No in when they were grouped among eight teams ranked eighth to th with the same odds to win the lottery after being eliminated in the COVID-altered play-in round of the expanded -team playoff format This year s draft will be held in Los Angeles with the first round taking place on June followed by the final six rounds the next day Top prospects will convene for the weeklong predraft combine being held in Buffalo next month The prospect pool is not considered as deep at the top as last year s class when the Sharks selected Boston University freshman Macklin Celebrini with the first pick or next year s group with Canadian junior forward Gavin McKenna long regarded as the No candidate Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer is NHL Central Scouting s top-ranked North American prospect followed by OHL Saginaw center Michael Misa and Boston College center James Hagens the top-ranked U S born prospect Listed at -foot- and pounds Schaefer maintained his No position despite missing the final three months of the season after urgent his right collarbone representing Canada at the world junior championships in December Schaefer easily projects as a future All-Star in the NHL central scouting VP Dan Marr stated He is the complete package playing a dynamic style that generates results and influences the outcome of games Schaefer has the prospective of becoming only the fifth defenseman selected No since and first since Buffalo chose Owen Power in And he also has the chance of being the first OHL athlete to go No since Edmonton drafted Erie s Connor McDavid in The top-ranked international skaters are center Anton Frondell and right wing Victor Eklund who are teammates with Djurgarden of Sweden s second division league Frondell had goals and points in games last season in posting the second-most points by a second-division participant or younger behind only current Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander in - The lottery was held at the NHL Structure studios in New Jersey and conducted live for the first time in the event s -year history Previously the lottery was held shortly before the broadcast in front of a limited audience of sequestered observers followed by the draft selections being revealed in reverse order Two draws were held the first to determine the No pick followed by the No selection Only the bottom of the standings were eligible to land the first pick due to a rule restricting teams from moving up no more than spots in the draft order The remaining draft spots will be determined following the playoffs AP NHL https apnews com hub nhl Source