When the lottery started tonight, Detroit and Ottawa thought they sat pretty with 18 and 20% chances of taking home the big prize, fantastic prospect Alexis Lafrenière but neither of them are drinking champaign right now... As I said in my last blog, it seems like anything can happen in 2020 and that odds means absolutely nothing... Case in point, the lottery was won tonight by placeholder team E who had a 2.5% chance of winning it. If you are wondering, that would have been the Winnipeg Jets but it's not now since they are taking part in the play-in round along with 15 other teams. What it means though is that the 8 teams who lose their play-in series will automatically be entered in a second draft lottery and each and everyone of them will have a 12.5% chance of winning the first pick. It should be noted that this lottery will be solely for the 1st pick, the 7 remaining teams who lost will be getting draft position 9 to 15th from best to worst win percentage in the season.

So, should Montreal lose against the Pens, they'll have a 12.5% chance of winning the Lafrenière derby and should they not, they will pick 9th overall. All things considered, this is a pretty good scenario for the Habs. The dream could however turn to a nightmare if they pulled the upset against Pittsburgh only to be eliminated in the first round of the real playoffs as they'd then fall to 16th pick. I rarely say this but right now, I hope they lose. Or better yet, I hope the cash grab play-in doesn't happen and that the 2nd lottery is held with the 8 worst team which would include the Canadiens. If it does happen though, bring back Keith Kinkaid, make Karl Alzner our first d-man, tell Domi to stay home because of his diabetes and well, just do anything possible to lose.

That being said, I do feel bad for 3 fan bases tonight Ottawa who will select 3rd and 5th in the end, after dreaming of picking 1st and 2nd, Detroit who will speak 5th after having the season from hell and Winnipeg. The Jets had a 2.5% chance of winning the lottery and it happened but thank to the NHL's made up play-in scenario, they win nothing now. They will have to lose their play-in series to have another chance of winning the first pick. So before you complain about what happened tonight, think about those who really did get screwed tonight.

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