New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - The New York Islanders won the NHL draft lottery on Tuesday and will have the first selection when the draft begins on June 26-27 in Montreal. Once a proud franchise that boasted four consecutive Stanley Cup winners from 1980-83, the Islanders in 2008-09 finished dead last in the league with 61 points. The club also finished with the second-fewest wins with 26. Under the lottery system, only the five teams with the fewest points had the chance to win the first overall selection. No team could have moved up more than four spots, and no team could have slid backward more than one. The Tampa Bay Lightning were allotted the second pick, followed by Colorado, Atlanta and Los Angeles. New York has the inside track on selecting the top-ranked player in North America, 18-year-old John Tavares from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Victor Hedman, an 18-year-old Swede, has also garnered interest for the first-overall pick. Tampa Bay was awarded the No. 1 overall slot in last year's draft and selected Steven Stamkos from Canadian juniors. |
