Columbus Blue Jackets to select third overall at 2023 NHL Draft

The Columbus Blue Jackets will hold the third overall pick at the 2023 National Hockey League Draft to be held from June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The club’s draft position was determined by tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery. The Chicago Blackhawks won the initial drawing and will have the first overall pick, while the Anaheim Ducks won the subsequent drawing and moved from first to second overall.

The final results of tonight’s draft lottery: 1 – Chicago Blackhawks; 2 – Anaheim Ducks; 3 – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS; 4 – San Jose Sharks; 5 – Montreal Canadiens; 6 – Arizona Coyotes; 7 – Philadelphia Flyers; 8 – Washington Capitals; 9 – Detroit Red Wings; 10 – St. Louis Blues; 11 – Vancouver Canucks; 12 – Ottawa Senators (Arizona Coyotes); 13 – Buffalo Sabres; 14 – Pittsburgh Penguins; 15 – Nashville Predators; 16 – Calgary Flames. The remaining draft positions will be determined at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Blue Jackets currently hold nine picks in the 2023 NHL Draft, including two first-round selections. The club acquired a conditional first-round pick as part of the trade that sent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to the Los Angeles Kings on Mar. 1, 2023. Columbus also holds its own picks in rounds two, three, four and seven, along with Calgary’s third-round selection, Winnipeg’s fourth-round pick and Boston’s fifth-round selection.

NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings have center Connor Bedard of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats as the top North American Skater, followed by University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli and United States Development Program center William Smith. Center Leo Carlsson of Orebro in the Swedish Hockey League finished as the top-ranked international skater, followed by SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) right wing Matvei Michkov and AIK (Sweden-2) center Dalibor Dvorsky.

The NHL Draft Lottery is a weighted lottery system that determines the order of selection for the first 16 picks of the Draft with the lottery assigning the top two slots in the first round of the NHL Draft for the third-straight year. Two draws were held with the first drawing determining the club selecting first overall and the second drawing determining the team selecting second. A team could only move up 10 selections if it won one of the draws. Clubs that did not qualify for this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs participated in the lottery.

Under the lottery system, the Blue Jackets had the second-highest chance (13.5 pct.) of winning the first lottery. The percentage chance of being selected in the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery was as follows: Anaheim (18.5 pct.), COLUMBUS (13.5 pct.), Chicago (11.5 pct.), San Jose (9.5 pct.), Montreal (8.5 pct.), Arizona (7.5 pct.), Philadelphia (6.5 pct.), Washington (6.0 pct.), Detroit (5.0 pct.), St. Louis (3.5 pct.), Vancouver (3.0 pct.), Ottawa (2.5 pct.), Buffalo (2.0 pct.), Pittsburgh (1.5 pct.), Nashville (0.5 pct.) and Calgary (0.5 pct.).

BLUE JACKETS DRAFT LOTTERY HISTORY

2000 Lost expansion team coin flip with Minnesota (No. 3 pick) to earn No. 4 overall pick in 2000 Entry Draft.

2001 Entered in No. 8 position and earned No. 8 pick. Atlanta (No. 3) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2002 Entered in No. 2 position and earned No. 3 pick. Florida (No. 3) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.*

2003 Entered in No. 3 position and earned No. 4 pick. Florida (No. 4) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2004 Entered in No. 4 position and earned No. 4 pick. Washington (No. 3) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2005 No Drawing due to cancellation of 2004-05 season.

2006 Entered in No. 6 position and earned No. 6 pick. St. Louis (No. 1) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2007 Entered in No. 7 position and earned No. 7 pick. Chicago (No. 5) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2008 Entered in No. 6 position and earned No. 6 pick. Tampa Bay (No. 1) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2009 Not eligible for Drawing. NY Islanders (No. 1) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2010 Entered in No. 4 position and earned No. 4 pick. Edmonton (No. 1) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2011 Entered in No. 7 position and earned No. 8 pick. New Jersey (No. 8) won Drawing and No. 4 overall pick.

2012 Entered in No. 1 position and earned No. 2 pick. Edmonton (No. 2) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2013 Entered in No. 14 position and earned No. 14 pick. Colorado (No. 2) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2014 Not eligible for Drawing. Florida (No. 2) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2015 Entered in No. 8 position and earned No. 8 pick. Edmonton (No. 3) won Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2016 Entered in No. 4 position and earned No. 3 pick. Toronto (No. 1) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2017 Not eligible for Drawing. New Jersey (No. 5) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2018 Not eligible for Drawing. Buffalo (No. 1) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2019 Not eligible for Drawing. New Jersey (No. 3) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2020 Not eligible for Drawing. New York Rangers won Second Phase and No. 1 overall pick.

2021 Entered in No. 5 position and earned No. 5 pick. Buffalo (No. 1) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

2022 Entered in No. 12 position and earned No. 12 pick. Montreal (No. 1) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick. ^Entered in No. 6 position (Chicago) and earned No. 6 pick.

2023 Entered in No. 2 position and earned No. 3 pick. Chicago (No. 3) won First Drawing and No. 1 overall pick.

(*pick acquired by Columbus, which selected Rick Nash No. 1 overall)

(^conditional pick acquired by Columbus in trade with Chicago on July 23, 2021)