The 2017 NHL Draft Lottery happened last night, and the Dallas Stars could not have gotten off with a much sweeter deal. The odds were very much in their favor and they walked away with the third overall pick in the 2017 Draft.
Math has not been the Dallas Stars’ best friend over the past few months. With the number of injuries piling up and the deficit in the standings never turning to their favor, it’s been one of the larger enemies of the Stars this year.
But last night, math was no longer an enemy for Dallas. Instead, it turned out to be a great friend and ally.
Last night, the NHL hosted it’s annual draft lottery to determine the order for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, which will be held in Chicago on June 23-24. The first 15 picks were set, considering there were 15 teams that did not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year.
As we all know, the Dallas Stars are one of those teams. A final record of 34-37-11 with 79 points was their second worst finish in franchise history and was good enough to land them 11th place in the Western Conference.
Dallas Stars
Following that, there was a changing of the guard at head coach and that gave way to plenty of speculation on how the rest of the offseason will pan out.
Going into the draft lottery, it didn’t seem like the Dallas Stars even had a remote shot at landing the first pick. In fact, there was only a 5.8 percent chance that it would happen. Even though the season was a horrendous one, the Stars still weren’t the worst team in the NHL. They finished 24th throughout the league, meaning that there were seven teams with better odds at landing the number one pick.
The odds didn’t get much better going down the line. Dallas had a 6.1 percent chance at landing number two and a 6.4 percent chance at the number three pick. The NHL only used the “lottery” style to decide the first three picks and left the remainder to be decided based on how teams finished in the standings, starting with the worst.
The Stars’ best odds were at the ninth pick, where they sat with a 37.9 percent chance.
As the lottery coverage started, things all of a sudden changed for the Dallas Stars. It was announced that the Stars had made it into the lottery-style selection would be receiving one of the top three picks, along with the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers.
It was a shock to say the least, especially for the Colorado Avalanche who finished with one of the worst seasons in NHL history (22-56-4, 48 points). Colorado would eventually received the fourth overall pick.
When the final order was announced (1. New Jersey, 2. Philadelphia, 3. Dallas), it still left Stars’ fans in shock. It was probably the first time that Stars’ fans as a whole had been overwhelmingly excited since Adam Cracknell’s hat trick in late March.
This will be the first time in franchise history that the Dallas Stars pick in the top three in an entry draft. The last time that the “Stars” picked in the top three was in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft when the Minnesota North Stars selected first overall (and picked some guy named Mike Modano).
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Needless to say, things just got very interesting for the Dallas Stars in regards to the draft. Whether they end up holding on to the pick and scooping an “on-the-doorstep” NHL talent or trade it away for a big name, one thing is for sure: it’s going to be fun to watch.