2007 NHL Draft Lottery Held

So this is old news now, but I figured it was still information worth posting.

Back on April 10, the draft lottery was held for the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. I think it's usually held later in the summer so I'm not sure why they did it so early this year. And since that's the case, only the 14 teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs are eligible for the lottery. The rest will be added in the order they were eliminated from the postseason (if memory serves right).

Chicago lucked out and will get the first overall pick this year. Last year, they had No. 3. The full order is as follows.

1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Phoenix Coyotes
4. Los Angeles Kings
5. Washington Capitals
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Columbus Blue Jackets
8. Boston Bruins
9. St. Louis Blues
10. Florida Panthers
11. Carolina Hurricanes
12. Montreal Canadiens
13. Toronto Maple Leafs
14. Colorado Avalanche

And if I'm right about the whole order-of-elimination thing, then the next five teams will be as follows.

15. Atlanta Thrashers
16. Pittsburgh Penguins
17. Minnesota Wild
18. New York Islanders
19. Nashville Predators

The draft takes place June 22 in Columbus, Ohio. I'm sure I'll have coverage of that when it happens. We'll all be pretty starved for hockey by then. Of course it will be a long three months between the draft and the training camps. But that's why I also write about television here (not that there will be any news on that during the summer either).

UPDATE (Sat 4/28 @ 4:04 PM): I know I'm a few days late on this, but we have what should be the next three teams in the draft order for June. I'll update this post again at the end of the second round.

20. Tampa Bay Lightning
21. Calgary Flames
22. Dallas Stars