The 2017 NHL Draft Lottery show begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. Central time on NBC. Dallas Stars fans have a vested interest in learning the results this year: The organization has an outside chance at a top three spot, including the golden ticket of first overall. (The Stars haven’t drafted at the No. 1 spot since they were the Minnesota North Stars; you may remember that guy they got in 1988.)
The knock on this year’s class is that it’s merely “average” in terms of franchise-level talent. Michael Traikos of the Toronto Sun offers some perspective:
In some ways, this year’s draft resembles the 2012 draft, where Nail Yakupov went first overall and many players were coming off a season where they had missed time with significant injury.