Eurolanche

Avalanche to select fourth at draft

The Colorado Avalanche will select fourth overall at the 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago, Illinois, as the club was jumped in position by three teams at the NHL Draft Lottery on Saturday.

The results of the lottery were revealed live on national television in the United States and in Canada from Sportsnet's Hockey Central Studio at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Colorado, which finished this past season 30th out of the 30 teams, entered the lottery with the best odds of earning the No. 1 pick at 18 percent.

The New Jersey Devils won the No. 1 overall selection. The Philadelphia Flyers landed the No. 2 pick, and the Dallas Stars scooped up the No. 3 spot.

This year's draft lottery featured the same rules as the previous iteration, which included drawings for the second- and third-overall selections at the event as well the first. The 14 non-playoff qualifying teams received odds proportionate to their total in points at the conclusion of the regular season. On top of this, those odds were adjusted depending on which organization won each of the three drawings. Also, the Vegas Golden Knights were added to the mix, which changed the overall odds for every team in the lottery.

In order to give the expansion club a chance at starting off with quality depth, the Golden Knights were given the exact same lottery odds as the Arizona Coyotes, who finished the regular season in 28th place. As such, Vegas was guaranteed no lower than the sixth overall selection.

As a result of the new change, the Avs weren't guaranteed to land, at minimum, the second-overall pick. The organization could have fallen as low as fourth overall.

This is the first time in Avalanche history that the organization will have the fourth overall pick at the draft. The Quebec Nordiques previously selected fourth once, taking forward Todd Warriner in 1992.

The 2017 NHL Draft will be held June 23-24 at United Center in Chicago. The first round will take place on Friday, June 23, while rounds two through seven will be conducted on Saturday, June 24. 

– Avalanche Press Release –