The Buffalo Sabres finished last place in the NHL for the fourth time in eight years, meaning they will have the best draft lottery odds in the NHL for the fourth time in that span.
The league announced the odds on Wednesday evening, and the Sabres are slotted in with a 16.6% chance to win the first overall pick.
The draft lottery will take place virtually this year on Wednesday, June 2.
As an expansion franchise, the Seattle Kraken will have the same odds as the third-worst team in the NHL, the New Jersey Devils, at 10.3%.
The Arizona Coyotes have a 3.1% chance to win, but forfeited their first round pick due to pre-draft scouting violations. Should the Coyotes win the lottery, there will be a re-draw.
Why wouldn't the NHL just remove the Coyotes from the lottery all together, you ask? Excellent question!
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly's answer to that question, when asked by Coyotes reporter Craig Morgan, was it "allocates odds more evenly between participating clubs."
Basically the NHL's answer is they don't know how to split the extra 3.1% up between the other teams. It's something anyone with a calculator could figure out how to do.
One big change to this year's lottery includes the league only drawing the first and second picks. In previous years, the NHL has drawn the first three picks. With this change, the Sabres can now only fall as far as the third overall pick, whereas in previous years they could've fallen to fourth.
It doesn't sound like it matters much whether the Sabres pick first, second, or third in this year's draft. There have been as many as seven different prospect ranked as the top prospect in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Michigan defenseman Owen Power is often regarded as the top-ranked prospect, with others including soon to be Michigan defenseman Luke Hughes, Michigan center Matthew Beniers, Swedish defenseman Simon Edvinsson, and Swedish forward William Eklund.
Round 1 of the 2021 NHL Draft is set to take place virtually this year on Friday, July 23. Rounds 2-7 will also take place virtually on Saturday, July 24.