A day after a widely panned press conference to introduce their new GM and figurehead, the Toronto Maple Leafs were handed a gift by the hockey gods/conspiracy forces by winning the draft lottery to get the #1 pick this summer.
This was quite the cliffhanger, as had just one lower team won the first or second pick lottery, the Leafs would have fallen out of the top five, meaning their high first-round pick would transfer to the Bruins as part of a trade that was only top-five protected.
Making matters
worse for the last-place Vancouver Canucks, the San Jose Sharks then won the 2nd-pick lottery, giving them three consecutive years with a pick in the top two, and four consecutive years with a pick in the top four. While the Sharks took a big step forward this season, the tanking residue is still paying dividends.
And, of course, Toronto and San Jose’s lottery wins mean the Rangers drop from 3rd overall to 5th. Pity, that.
Islanders News
- In far less surprising news, the NHL announced the Calder finalists as shoe-in Matthew Schaefer (duh), preseason favorite Ivan Demidev and the Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke. This award is voted on by the writers. [NHL | Newsday]
- In Islanders-initiated news, after a successful season at the helm of their AHL squad, Rocky Thompson has been brought up to Pete DeBoer’s NHL staff. Thompson was an assistant in the NHL previously with the Flyers, Oilers and Sharks (with current Isles assistant Bob Boughner), and he overlapped with DeBoer a bit when he was head coach of the Knights’ AHL affiliate in Chicago when DeBoer was in Vegas. [Isles]
- No lottery luck this summer; the Islanders will select 13th overall, the slot where they selected Derek King and Dean Chynoweth back in the ’80s, which was {counts in head} damn…a long time ago. [Isles]
- Here’s Matthew Schaefer and his roommates explaining how the draft lottery works:
Elsewhere
- Tuesday night the Avalanche and Wild exchanged quick early goals again, but then Colorado settled in and maintained control on the way to a 5-2 (EN) win and 2-0 series lead. [NHL]
- What a difference 24 hours made for the mood in Toronto. [Sportsnet]
- Apparently Leafs GM John Chayka did Shane Doan dirty, and that bothers Coyotes followers who think of Doan as a swell guy. [Arizona Sports]
- Jim Rutherford will steap away from the “day to day” with the Canucks after the draft and after they presumably name a GM, sunsetting his very odd tenure with that team. [NHL | Sportsnet]
- Four first-round losses for the Lightning does not change their commitment to Jon Cooper. [Sportsnet]
