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The 2025 NHL Draft will be held in late June 2025. The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta reported on Oct. 9 that the event is expected to be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, although the league has yet to confirm the location and dates.
At a date to be determined in April 2025, the league will hold its annual draft lottery consisting of two draws to determine the order of the 16 teams that failed to qualify for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The 32nd overall team can drop no further than third overall in the order while a team can only move up no further than 10 spots depending on the lottery’s results. No single team can win the lottery more than twice within five years.
NHL Central Scouting released its preliminary players to watch list on Oct. 23, singling out Boston College’s James Hagens as a projected top pick in the 2025 draft. A swift-skating two-way center with a high hockey IQ, the 18-year-old Hagens is among his club’s leading scorers. He’s also among the NCAA’s scoring leaders.
A third of the way through this season’s NHL schedule, several teams near the bottom of the overall standings could find themselves lottery candidates by season’s end. Some, like the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, are recent draft lottery winners.
Several of these teams badly need that first-overall pick more than others. Here’s a look at five of them and why we consider them more deserving.
We’ve excluded the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators from our list. These three clubs are stocked with young talent but have failed to break out as playoff contenders after several seasons. They need more than a first-overall pick to end their long playoff droughts. We also exclude the San Jose Sharks as they won the 2024 lottery.