The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t in the first wave of the Draft Lottery but there is still a big reason to watch it tonight.
The 2020 National Hockey League Draft Lottery is taking place tonight. The seven teams that are not participating in the 2020 Return to Play tournament are going to be involved in the first wave of the lottery. There are also placeholders set for the potential losers of the “play-in round” of this tournament that have a chance to win if a second wave of the lottery is needed. The Chicago Blackhawks, as a result, should be paying attention to what happens.
The seven teams that aren’t playing any more hockey in 2019-20 are the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres. The Ottawa Senators have the San Jose Sharks pick unprotected as a result of the Erik Karlsson trade so they have two chances along with every other team that missed the 24 team cut.