For the seventh year in a row, the Red Wings will be crossing their fingers in the NHL Draft lottery. Is this the year they get lucky?
They've had nothing but bad luck to date, dropping in the draft in four lotteries and standing pat in two others. They have the most losses in the NHL over the past seven seasons and, as of yet, not a single top-three pick to show for it.
What a year it would be for a break. While GM Steve Yzerman said last month he's "not sure how many superstars there are in this draft," there sure seems to be one: Canadian center and potential franchise-changing player Connor Bedard is the consensus No. 1 pick.
After finishing ninth last in the NHL, the Red Wings have a five percent chance of jumping to the top of the board.
Bedard, who turns 18 in July, had 71 goals and 143 points -- in 57 games -- this season for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. He had 100 points the season before that.
And what a jolt he could provide the Red Wings, whose seven-year playoff drought is the second longest in the NHL and tied for the longest in franchise history.
Discussing the team's path forward, Yzerman said, "We gotta stick with it and we have to draft well. We have to get lucky on some occasions, maybe at some point here, maybe this year, get lucky in the lottery and that’ll speed it up a little bit."
The lottery is May 8. After six years of losing out, why not the Wings?
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