New York Rangers win NHL draft lottery, first chance at Alexis Lafreniere

Aug. 10 (UPI) — The New York Rangers won Monday’s NHL draft lottery and will have the first chance to select consensus No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere.

A ping-pong ball with the Rangers’ logo was drawn during the second phase of the NHL’s lottery, giving the team the top pick in October’s draft. It is only the second time in the franchise’s 94-year history that it holds the top-overall selection.

“Really good news,” Lafreniere said in an interview on NHL Network. “Rangers are an unreal team with really good players and a really nice city. So for sure it’s really good news, and I’m really happy.”

Lafreniere is represented by Emilie Castonguay, who could become the first woman to represent a No. 1 overall pick as an NHLPA-certified agent.

The NHL held its initial draft lottery in June, which consisted of the seven teams that failed to qualify for the league’s 24-team tournament, as well as a placeholder pick for one of the eight clubs that lost in the qualification round. The placeholder pick won June’s lottery to force a second drawing Monday.

The Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild and Rangers each had a 12.5% chance to win the No. 1 pick. The seven losers of Monday’s drawing now will be slotted nine to 15 based on their regular-season points percentage.

The Carolina Hurricanes swept the Rangers in the qualification round to put the team in the running for the top pick. Last year, New York had the No. 2 overall pick in the NHL Draft and picked Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko.

The Los Angeles Kings were awarded the second-overall selection in the initial draft lottery, and the Ottawa Senators will pick third. The Detroit Red Wings, who had the fewest points in the league this season, slid to No. 4.

The Senators will pick again at No. 5, the Anaheim Ducks sixth, the New Jersey Devils seventh, the Buffalo Sabres eighth, the Wild ninth, the Jets 10th, the Predators 11th, the Panthers 12th, the Hurricanes 13th, the Oilers 14th and the Penguins 15th.

Picks 16-31 will be determined by the results of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Lafreniere, a native of Quebec, Canada, led the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 112 points in 52 games before the season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 18-year-old won the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season, joining Penguins star Sidney Crosby as the only players to win the award twice.