NHL Draft Lottery 2011 Results: Edmonton Will Pick First, New Jersey Wins The Lottery and Moves Up To Fourth

For the first time in since the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007, a team other than the one with the best chance at winning the NHL Draft Lottery actually won it. The New Jersey Devils, the team with the eighth-best chance at winning with a 3.6% shot, beat out the Edmonton Oilers (48.2% chance) among others to win the 2011 NHL Draft Lottery. Their first-round pick moves up from eighth-overall to fourth-overall. It will be the Devils highest pick in the Entry Draft since 1991, when they took Scott Niedermayer at number three.

Meanwhile, the top three spots stay the same. The Edmonton Oilers - for the second consecutive year - will pick first in the draft, held on June 24th and 25th at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The top prospects include NHL Central Scouting’s #1-ranked North American skater Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, #2-ranked North American skater Gabriel Landeskog, and #1-ranked European skater Adam Larsson. The Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers round out the top three, with the New York Islanders rounding out the Top 5 with the Devils. The rest of the top half of the first round (picks 16-30 will be based on playoff performance) goes as follows:

1. Edmonton