Islanders win 2025 NHL Draft Lottery

Long Island is at the top of the board.

On Monday night, the right ping pong ball popped up, with the New York Islanders 2025 NHL Draft Lottery and being awarded the first-overall pick in this year’s draft.

The Islanders went from having the 10th-best odds (3.5%) to getting the opportunity to draft first this summer. This is the third the Isles have won the lottery. In 2000, they infamously picked goaltender Rick DiPietro. In 2009, they drafted former captain, now Toronto Maple Leafs forward, John Tavares.

Heading into the lottery, the San Jose Sharks entered with the best odds to get the first-overall pick for the second year in a row. Last year, the Sharks used the No. 1 pick to draft Hobey Baker Award winner Macklin Celebrini. This year, the Sharks stumbled to No. 2 after the Utah Hockey Club won the second-overall pick. However, since Utah came into the event 14th, they were only able to move up as high as fourth on the draft board.

This year, they did the lottery a little differently. Instead of picking the ping pong balls ahead of time and simply announcing the order on national television, the drawing was held live, seemingly to give transparency and enhance the drama of the event.

Many people point at Erie Otters forward Matthew Schaefer as the odds-on first-overall pick. Despite suffering a long-term injury at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, scouts from far and wide are frothing at the mouth to see what Schaefer could do at the next level.

There are other players, like Saginaw Spirit forward Michael Misa, Boston College standout James Hagens, and Brampton Steelheads star Porter Martone, who are expected to hear their names called in the top five in June. Djurgardens forward Victor Eklund is regarded by many to be the top European prospect heading into this year’s draft.

Here is the current order for the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft:

1. New York Islanders
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Chicago Blackhawks
4. Utah Hockey Club
5. Nashville Predators
6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. Boston Bruins
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Anaheim Ducks
11. Pittsburgh Penguins
12. New York Rangers
13. Detroit Red Wings
14. Colorado Avalanche
15. Vancouver Canucks
16. Montreal Canadiens (via CGY)

The rest of the order will be determined as teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The draft will be held at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Round 1 is set for June 27, with the remaining six rounds falling on June 28. It will be the second time Hollywood has hosted the NHL Draft, as the city first hosted the event in 2010.