Toronto Maple Leafs: Crazy draft lottery provides chance at first overall pick

The 2020 NHL Draft Lottery was won by a placeholder team which means the Toronto Maple Leafs could win the first overall pick.

Watching Bill Daly announce the winner of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery you couldn’t help but shake your head in disbelief and start playing some scenarios regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs in your head.

In a chaotic turn of events, the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft is still up for grabs which means one of the teams who doesn’t qualify for the playoffs will be granted a great consolation prize. Unless the Montreal Canadiens were to somehow get a chance to draft Alexis Lafreniere, this situation could not have worked out better for the Leafs.

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The chances of them winning the first overall pick are highly slim considering their chances are pretty slim but that was also the case for this exact scenario. This would also mean that Toronto was eliminated by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the play-in tournament which would not go over well.

Regardless, you can’t help but wonder how teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators are feeling since they had the highest odds and could have benefited largely from drafting a franchise player in Lafreniere. Just to give you an idea of this scenario, the placeholders had a combined 24.5 per cent but the team that won the lottery had a 2.5 per cent chance of picking first overall.

The important note is that there is no guarantee that a season gets played which means the pick would be awarded to the remaining eight teams that didn’t make the playoffs and they will have a one-in-eight shot at the top selection. This would be an unlikely scenario considering the NHL seems intent on getting the season back up and running.

For one night at least, the NHL was back to being in the spotlight, although this might not have been the best way considering some of the reaction to the draft lottery results but one thing the league has going for it is the intrigue this entire scenario presents.

As a Leafs fan, some may want to land that first overall pick which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world but that likely won’t be the path the organization wants or aspires for.

What are your thoughts on the NHL draft lottery results? Do you wish the Leafs would get the first overall pick or would it not be worth it? Let us know in the comments below.