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The most joy the Boston Bruins, on the sidelines in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007, can get during this two-month stretch the Hub became so accustomed to, could come tonight if the Black and Gold win the first overall pick in tonight’s NHL Draft lottery. Granted, they have a mere one percent chance to pick first overall versus a 99% chance to finish the night with the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft down in Sunrise, Fla., but what’s that line again?
The Buffalo Sabres enter tonight with the best odds of landing the first overall pick (20%), while the Arizona Coyotes are on their tails with a 13.5% chance at taking the top spot. In fact, no team is less likely to land the first overall pick than the Bruins, who have drafted first overall just three times in their franchise’s 91-year history (Barry Gibbs in 1966, Gord Kluzak in 1982, and Joe Thornton in 1997).
But every team has a chance, as explained in this fantastic video below.
The pick -- whether it’s No. 1 or 14 -- will bring an interesting challenge to the table for the B’s. If they somehow land the first overall pick, it’d obviously be the easy call to go with McDavid, but they also face the pressure of having to potentially draft the hometown kid in Eichel. And at 14, the Bruins will have to make a decision as to where they go with their pick. Many draft ‘projections’ (these things change so much as the draft nears that it’s hard to really put a ton of stock in it) have bigger guys like a Paul Bittner or Jordan Greenway going around that general area, and that would put the Black and Gold in a dilemma of having to back up their words on getting quicker and more skilled, not even bigger.
Do you guys think it’s too late for the Bruins to ask pending free agent and noted-goner-come-July Gregory Campbell to see if his dad can come through with one final favor for the Bruins?
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com