The Bruins didn’t play Saturday, but three results of games — all shootouts — helped their pre-lottery position for the NHL Draft.
The Flyers beat the Islanders in a shootout. The Kraken edged the Blues in a shootout and the Sabres earned one point for losing to the Panthers in a shootout.
Buffalo earning one point gave it 77 points. If the Bruins win their last two games and the Sabres lose their last two, they’d both finish with 77 but Buffalo has more regulation wins, which would be the tie-breaker so Boston can’t finish ahead of them.
Using the same tiebreaker, any point earned by the Kraken or not earned by the Bruins would assure Boston of finishing below Seattle.
If that holds, it would mean the Bruins would enter the lottery with the fourth-best odds of picking first (9.5 percent). If they stay in that spot, the worst they could pick is No. 6 overall.
Here’s where the Bruins sit:
Games left: 2 — Sunday at Pittsburgh, Tuesday vs. New Jersey
After Saturday’s games: The Bruins have the fourth fewest points in the NHL.
Highest pre-lottery draft spot Bruins can reach: Fourth.
Lowest pre-lottery draft spot Bruins can reach: sixth
Outlook: At 32-39-9, the Bruins have 73 points. The most they can get to is 77 if they won their last three games. There are 26 teams who already have 77 or more points.
Only the Sharks, Blackhawks and Predators can’t reach 73.
Here are the bottom eight teams in the NHL, who have the best chance to finish with the No. 1 draft pick. It shows each team’s record, their points and the most points they could possibly reach if they won the rest of their games. Below them is their remaining schedule.
…………………GP—W—L—OT—Pts—MOST PTS
Buffalo………79—35-37-7—77—84
at TB, vs. Tor, vs. Phi
Seattle………81—35-40-6—76—78
vs. LA
Philadelphia.79—33-37-9—75—81
at Ott, vs. CBJ, at Buf
Boston………80—32-39-9—73—77
at Pit, vs. NJ
Nashville……80—29-43-8—66—70
vs. Utah, vs. Dal
Chicago……80—23-46-11—57—61
at Mon, at Ott
San Jose……79—20-48-11-51—59
at CGY, at Van, vs. Edm
Here’s how the lottery works:
NHL Draft Lottery rules
All non-playoff teams are in the lottery.
There will be two drawings, one for the No. 1 pick and one for the No. 2 pick. Once the top two picks have been determined, clubs will be slotted in reverse order of their finish in the regular season. A team can only move up 10 selections if it wins one of the lottery draws, a change announced by the NHL on March 23, 2021. Only the top 11 teams in lottery are eligible to receive the No. 1 selection.
If a team outside of the top 11 wins the first draw, the team with the worst record would get the No. 1 pick and the winner would move up 10 spots.
