Ahold of the draft’s No. 5 pick when the night began, the Bruins tumbled two spots to No. 7 , by virtue of the Islanders winning the right to pick No. 1 and the Utah Hockey Club filching the No. 4 spot.
The NHL draft lottery, staged here some 215 miles southwest of TD Garden and only a 20-minute drive from the Devils’ home in Newark, saw both the Islanders and the Utah Hockey Club leapfrog ahead of the Bruins in next month’s draft.
SECAUCUS, N.J. – Twenty days after wrapping up their disappointing season with an overtime loss to the Devils on Causeway Street, the Bruins were tagged with two more losses Monday night amid the bright lights and slippery, glossy floor of the NHL Network’s studios.
Advertisement
The two losses, on a night the Bruins could have secured the No. 1 pick for the first time since 1997, now will have the Black & Gold positioned to go No. 7 for the first time since 2000, when they swung and missed on Lars Jonsson, a Swedish defenseman. Jonsson never suited up for the Bruins, his NHL career totaling only the half-dozen games he logged for the Flyers in 2006-07.
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up
In the broader picture, the lottery, broadcast live for the first time, delivered as the league desired: with suspense and drama.
The Islanders, who had but a 3.5 percent chance of winning the draft, clinched it on the night’s opening draw, moving up from the No. 10 spot. Utah then followed by winning the second draw of the Ping-Pong balls, moving up from its No. 14 position.
Advertisement
“Some excitement, right?” said a beaming Steve Mayer, the league’s executive vice president and chief content officer. “And with a payoff, too.”
For the league, that payoff came in the form of the two dark horses, the Isles and the second-year UHC each moving up 10 spots in the draft order. To that point, it could not have been better scripted as a TV event aimed at drawing in more viewers and getting them to buy into the ride.
“And let’s be clear,” said a smiling Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, speaking to a couple of reporters after the lottery, “we didn’t script anything … and we’ve never scripted anything.”
In an age when there’s a potential conspiracy out there to find roost in any pro sports league’s practices, good luck to anyone attempting to claim a fix around the NHL’s complex draft process.
Fourteen balls, numbered 1-14, swirled around a machine in an air-blown scramble and four of the balls were ejected in 30-second intervals. There were 1,001 possible four-digit combinations, with each of the league’s 16 non-playoff clubs assigned varying shares of those combinations.
The Bruins had 85 of the 1,001 combinations, thus entering with an 8.5 percent chance of winning.
At Mayer’s suggestion, the league for the first time this year showed how the odds changed for each team as each of the four balls were drawn. In the first draw, the Bruins were out of the mix after the first three balls were drawn – numbers 7, 11, and 12. None of their four combos included No. 11.
Advertisement
NHL executive VP and chief content officer Steve Mayer (center) directed league officials, including commissioner Gary Bettman (second from left) and deputy commissioner Bill Daly (far right) at the 2025 NHL draft lottery in New Jersey. Kevin Paul Dupont
Then came the fourth ball.
“The moment of truth!,” said ESPN’s John Buccigross, the draft lottery’s host, as the balls swirled around prior to the last one. “And..here…it…comes.”
“It’s number 13,” said Bettman, standing aside the lottery machine, roughly the size of a large coffee urn.
“Holy schnikees,” exhorted Buccigros, who was aware, like the viewing audience, that lucky 13 clinched it for the Isles.
But it was left to Billy Daly, the league’s deputy commissioner, to make it official. While Daly awaited the accountant’s final confirmation, Buccigross added, “Out of nowhere … from about center ice …”
“The winner,” Daly finally chimed in … ”belongs to the New York Islanders.