Leafs win draft lottery after front office shakeup…

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The Toronto Maple Leafs won the NHL draft lottery Tuesday night, earning the chance to select Penn State phenom Gavin McKenna, who is expected to be picked No. 1.

“You need some luck and we got it tonight. Long road ahead. Lots of work to do. But when you get a first overall pick, it’s a monumental opportunity,” new Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka said on his second day on the job after being introduced Monday.

The San Jose Sharks won the second lottery draw, beating the odds after having just a 5% chance of doing so.

The Maple Leafs had an 8.5% chance of winning the first lottery draw, the fifth-best lottery odds. They finished last in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons. Should they make the selection on June 26 at the NHL draft in Buffalo, New York, this will be the third time Toronto has drafted at No. 1. They selected forward Wendel Clark in 1985 and current star center Auston Matthews in 2016 — also in a draft held in Buffalo.

The draft lottery win ended a tumultuous 24 hours for Toronto. The team introduced its new front office Monday with Chayka, former GM of the Arizona Coyotes, joining Hockey Hall of Famer Mats Sundin, who was hired as a senior executive adviser of hockey operations. Their introductory news conference was filled with tension, as CEO Keith Pelley was peppered with questions about his hiring process and Chayka’s qualifications for the job.

Needless to say, getting the No. 1 pick was a vibe shift.

“It’s a fortuitous bounce,” said Chayka.

There was added drama for the Maple Leafs in this draft lottery. If Toronto’s pick was outside the top five, then it would have transferred to the Boston Bruins as part of the Maple Leafs’ trade for defenseman Brandon Carlo at the 2025 NHL trade deadline.

While the draft lottery broadcast said that the Bruins now get their pick of either the Leafs’ 2027 or 2028 first-round picks, that might not be the case. Multiple reports on Tuesday night indicated that the Philadelphia Flyers believe they have a claim on the 2027 pick, having acquired a conditional first-rounder from the Leafs in the Scott Laughton trade last deadline. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN that he wasn’t prepared to make a ruling on who owns those picks quite yet, calling it “complicated situation.”

The lottery sees a set of 14 ping-pong balls placed in a lottery machine, which allows for 1,001 combinations. Each team of the 16 non-playoff teams in the lottery is assigned a set of random four-number combinations. The lower a team finishes in the standings, the more combinations they’re assigned. The Vancouver Canucks, who finished with the league’s worst points percentage, had 185 combination or an 18.5% chance of winning the lottery.

The Chicago Blackhawks (135, 13.5%) and New York Rangers (115, 11.5%) also had over one hundred number combinations.

There are two drawings in the NHL draft lottery. The first determines the first overall pick and the second determines the second overall pick. Teams can only move up a maximum number of 10 spots if they win the lottery; hence, only the 11 teams with the worst regular-season records can earn the first overall pick. If the winner of the first draw wins the second draw, there is a redraw.

Last season, the New York Islanders had only a 3.5% chance of securing the first overall pick entering the draft, the 10th-best odds out of the 16 teams in the lottery. They won the draw and the chance to draft defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who is the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

The first three numbers selected in the first draw were 7-2-11, which left eight teams alive for the first overall pick: Vancouver, who had the best lottery odds entering the draft, Chicago, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Toronto, Seattle Kraken, Winnipeg Jets and the Sharks. The final number was 12, giving Toronto the first overall pick.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that drama is why the live lottery works. “It’s the uncertainty, right? I mean, you don’t know what’s going to happen until the ball pops up,” he said.

San Jose’s numbers were 11-4-3-7. With six teams remaining before the last ball was drawn, the Sharks had an 18.2% chance of winning.

General manager Mike Grier said he was “shocked” the team won the lottery. If they keep the pick, this will mark the fourth straight NHL Draft in which the Sharks will have selected in the top four. They previous added forward Will Smith (4th, 2023), star center Macklin Celebrini (1st, 2024) and center Michael Misa (2nd, 2025).

Vancouver entered the final draw of the night with an 18.2% chance of winning it. But the team with the NHL’s worst record will pick third in next month’s draft behind the Maple Leafs and the Sharks.