As Greguisition mentioned in his walk this morning, the Minnesota Wild currently hold the 11th spot in the draft, and have a slightly less than 10 percent chance of moving up into the top three. But what can we glean from history, and how often does something like this actually happen?
Before we jump into results, stats and lucky rabbit’s feet, some perspective. The NHL draft lottery has taken place every year since 1995, but the rules have changed significantly from its inception. From 1995 through 2012, only one team was selected in the lottery, and that team could only move up a total of four spots, meaning a team seeded sixth or below could technically “win” the lottery, but not earn the first overall pick.