TORONTO (AP) The New Jersey Devils will have the No. 1 pick at this year’s NHL draft.
The team was announced Tuesday night as the winner of the draft lottery.
The Colorado Avalanche had the best odds of landing the first pick at 18.5 percent, but they drew the No. 4 selection. The New York Rangers will pick second and the Chicago Blackhawks will select third at the June draft.
The 15 teams that failed to qualify for the 2019 playoffs – or the franchises that acquired the first-round picks of non-playoff clubs – participated in the lottery.
The Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers were the Canadian teams involved. Edmonton drew the No. 8 pick, Vancouver earned the 10th overall selection and Montreal will pick 15th.
Colorado, which opens the postseason Thursday against the Calgary Flames, acquired its selection from the Ottawa Senators in the trade for Matt Duchene in November 2017.
Ottawa, which finished 31st in the overall standings, could have sent the team’s first pick at last June’s draft to Colorado, but decided instead to keep the selection before drafting winger Brady Tkachuk at No. 4.
The Los Angeles Kings also slid down the board, going from No. 2 to No. 5 while Chicago moved up from the 12th spot to No. 3.
Jack Hughes, the top-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, is expected to go No. 1 overall in the draft.
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