The Blackhawks were the winners of the NHL's draft lottery on Monday evening, earning the right to draft forward Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in this summer's draft, which is set to be held June 28-29 in Nashville, Tenn.
The Blackhawks had the third-best odds in the lottery at 11.5%.
The Ducks were the second team to be picked in the drawing, falling from the best odds at 25.5%. The Blackhawks winning knocked the Blue Jackets from second to third in the order.
Since the Penguins were not one of the two teams to win the lottery, they will still pick No. 14 overall in the draft. If the Penguins hold onto their first-round pick by the draft, it will be their highest selection since taking Derrick Pouliot eighth overall in 2012 with the pick acquired from the Hurricanes in the Jordan Staal trade. The last time the Penguins' own pick was better than 14th was in 2006, when they took Staal second overall.
The Penguins weren't eligible to win the No. 1 overall pick as a result of changes the NHL made to the lottery system in 2021 -- teams can now only move up a maximum of 10 spots in the order, and the Penguins entered Monday with the 14th-best odds in the lottery. Had they "won" and been one of the two teams to move up, they only would have moved up to fourth (or fifth, depending on who the other team was).
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton general manager Erik Heasley, director of hockey operations Alec Schall, president of business operations Kevin Acklin, and hockey operations analyst Andy Saucier were the Penguins' representatives on video during the lottery.
