There will be more changes coming to the NHL Draft Lottery format starting in 2021, and then again in 2022.
According to TSN hockey insider Pierre LeBrun, the National Hockey League's Board of Governors have approved changes to the draft lottery format after a week-long vote.
The first change to the NHL Draft Lottery will come this season, as the number of teams that will be drawn for the top-two overall picks in the draft will be cut from three to two.
Then in 2022, there will be two more changes to the draft lottery format:
1.) The maximum amount of slots a team can move up by winning the draft lottery will be 10. Instead of all 16 teams being eligible to win the No. 1 overall pick, only the top-11 teams will be eligible.
2.) To limit the same teams winning the NHL Draft Lottery in multiple years (i.e., the Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers), no team can win the lottery more than twice in a five-year period.
For example, the Buffalo Sabres are currently the last place team in the NHL with just 16 points and a 6-20-4 record in 30 games this season. If they finish the year in last place, they can pick no worse than third overall after the lottery in 2021.
If the Sabres finish with the 12th overall selection before the NHL Draft Lottery for the 2022 NHL Draft, the highest Buffalo would be able to select by winning the first draw of the lottery would be second overall.
The NHL has made many adjustments to the NHL Draft Lottery format over the course of its history since it was introduced in 1995. The most recent change came following the 2015 NHL Draft when the top-three picks of the draft would be drawn to the 15 teams that failed to make the postseason.
This past year saw the NHL draw some controversy when they included the eight teams that played in the NHL's Return To Play plan and lost in the play-in round, which has been regarded as the playoffs. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft just happened to be one of the "placeholder" teams that played in the tournament, while the Los Angeles Kings won the second overall pick and the Ottawa Senators (with the San Jose Sharks' first round pick) won the third overall pick.
The league then conducted Phase 2 of the NHL Draft Lottery in 2020, which happened to be the Rangers getting the luck of the draw and winning the first overall pick. They used that pick to select left winger Alexis Lafrenière at No. 1 overall.
More in-depth details of the changes to the draft lottery format, including odds for each team's chances of winning the first and second overall pick, are expected to be released some time in the near future.