NHL.com
The Panthers will pick first in the 2014 NHL Draft after winning the lottery Tuesday. As the 29th-place team in the final 2013-14 NHL standings, the Panthers entered with an 18.8 percent chance (second best) of getting the No. 1 pick.
The Buffalo Sabres had the best chance to win the lottery (25 percent) based on their 30th-place finish but will pick second.
The draft will be held June 27-28 at Wells Fargo Center, with the Philadelphia Flyers as host. It will be the first time the Panthers have the No. 1 pick since 1994, when they selected defenseman Ed Jovanovski. Florida won the lottery in 2002 and 2003 but each year it traded the pick prior to the draft.
The weighted odds of winning the lottery were determined by the regular-season point totals for teams that did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After Florida, the remaining 12 teams that were eligible to win the lottery are slotted in reverse order of their point totals.
Here are the top 13 picks:
1. Florida Panthers
2. Buffalo Sabres
3. Edmonton Oilers
4. Calgary Flames
5. New York Islanders
6. Vancouver Canucks
7. Carolina Hurricanes
8. Toronto Maple Leafs
9. Winnipeg Jets
10. Anaheim Ducks (from Ottawa Senators)
11. Nashville Predators
12. Phoenix Coyotes
13. Washington Capitals
The New Jersey Devils did not make the playoffs but were not be eligible to win the lottery due to punishments relating to salary-cap circumvention. The Devils will select 30th in the first round.
The first-round drafting positions of the 16 playoff teams (picks 14-29) will be determined by the results of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which get underway Wednesday.
The drawing was conducted at the NHL office in Toronto.