COLUMBUS — The Columbus Blue Jackets will hold the third overall pick at the 2023 National Hockey League Draft to be held from June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
The club's draft position was determined during Monday night's NHL Draft Lottery. The Chicago Blackhawks won the initial drawing and received the first overall pick, while the Anaheim Ducks won the subsequent drawing to claim the second overall pick.
The final results of Monday's draft lottery:
1 - Chicago Blackhawks
2 - Anaheim Ducks
3 - COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
4 - San Jose Sharks
5 - Montreal Canadiens
6 - Arizona Coyotes
7 - Philadelphia Flyers
8 - Washington Capitals
9 - Detroit Red Wings
10 - St. Louis Blues
11 - Vancouver Canucks
12 - Ottawa Senators (Arizona Coyotes)
13 - Buffalo Sabres
14 - Pittsburgh Penguins
15 - Nashville Predators
16 - Calgary Flames.
The remaining draft positions will be determined at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Blue Jackets will go into the Draft with nine total picks, including two first-round selections.
The club acquired a conditional first-round pick as part of the trade that sent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to the Los Angeles Kings on Mar. 1, 2023. Columbus also holds its own picks in rounds two, three, four and seven, along with Calgary's third-round selection, Winnipeg's fourth-round pick and Boston's fifth-round selection.
NHL Central Scouting's final rankings have center Connor Bedard of the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats as the top North American Skater, followed by University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli and United States Development Program center William Smith. Center Leo Carlsson of Orebro in the Swedish Hockey League finished as the top-ranked international skater, followed by SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) right wing Matvei Michkov and AIK (Sweden-2) center Dalibor Dvorsky.
The NHL Draft Lottery is a weighted lottery system that determines the order of selection for the first 16 picks of the Draft with the lottery assigning the top two slots in the first round of the NHL Draft for the third-straight year. Two draws were held with the first drawing determining the club selecting first overall and the second drawing determining the team selecting second. A team could only move up 10 selections if it won one of the draws. Clubs that did not qualify for this season's Stanley Cup Playoffs participated in the lottery.
Under the lottery system, the Blue Jackets had the second-highest chance (13.5 pct.) of winning the first lottery. The percentage chance of being selected in the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery was as follows: Anaheim (18.5 pct.), COLUMBUS (13.5 pct.), Chicago (11.5 pct.), San Jose (9.5 pct.), Montreal (8.5 pct.), Arizona (7.5 pct.), Philadelphia (6.5 pct.), Washington (6.0 pct.), Detroit (5.0 pct.), St. Louis (3.5 pct.), Vancouver (3.0 pct.), Ottawa (2.5 pct.), Buffalo (2.0 pct.), Pittsburgh (1.5 pct.), Nashville (0.5 pct.) and Calgary (0.5 pct.).
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