2020 NHL Draft Lottery results: Red Wings slide to 4th overall pick

The Detroit Red Wings will have the 4th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

The Red Wings finished in last place this season and had an 18.5 percent chance at grabbing the top pick, but fell to 4th overall in the Draft Lottery on Friday night.

Read more: NHL draft robbery: Lowly Red Wings pushed even lower to 4th overall

The first overall pick went to a team that is playing in the 16-team qualifying round. That team will have to be determined -- the pick will go to one of the eight teams that is knocked out of the qualifying round.

Red Wings General Manager Steve Yzerman will now have a real decision to make at 4th overall.

Yzerman, by the way, was drafted 4th overall in 1983 -- here’s who went before him: 1. Brian Lawton; 2. Sylvain Turgeon; 3. Pat LaFontaine.

Here’s how the lottery went:

• The Buffalo Sabres moved down to the No. 8 spot, making it clear there would be a team from the qualifying round picking in a top three spot. Not a fun start for the seven teams that showed up (virtually) to participate in this draft.
• The New Jersey Devils grabbed the 7th spot.
• The Anaheim Ducks will select at 6th overall.
• One of the Ottawa Senators’ picks dropped to 5th overall.
• The Detroit Red Wings were knocked down to the No. 4 pick.
• Ottawa then got the 3rd pick with their second drawing.
• The Los Angeles King won the 2nd pick.
• A team in the qualifying round of the 2020 playoffs has won the No. 1 pick.

Now what?

The NHL’s rules for the draft state that if a team not in the bottom seven wins any of the first three drawings, a Second Phase will be conducted among the eight teams eliminated in the qualifiers. That would take place between the end of the qualifiers and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Now we have to wait for the qualifying round to be played -- possibly as early as late July -- then we will learn who has the 1st overall pick in the draft.

The draft itself does not have a confirmed date. It will be held after the playoffs, at least.

Here were the first lottery drawing odds:

• Detroit Red Wings (.275) -- 18.5 percent chance for No. 1 pick
• Ottawa Senators (.437) -- 13.5 percent
• Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks, .450) -- 11.5 percent
• Los Angeles Kings (.457) -- 9.5 percent
• Anaheim Ducks (.472) -- 8.5 percent
• New Jersey Devils (.493) -- 7.5 percent
• Buffalo Sabres (.493) -- 6.5 percent
• Qualifier Team A -- 6.0 percent
• Qualifier Team B -- 5.0 percent
• Qualifier Team C -- 3.5 percent
• Qualifier Team D -- 3.0 percent
• Qualifier Team E -- 2.5 percent
• Qualifier Team F -- 2.0 percent
• Qualifier Team G -- 1.5 percent
• Qualifier Team H -- 1.0 percent

Top prospects

Winger Alexis Lafreniere, out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), is expected to go first overall. Here’s his EliteProspects page.

Forward Tim Stützle, out of Germany, also is expected to be selected in the top three. The Red Wings selected D Moritz Seider out of Germany at 6th overall last year. Stützle and Seider are friends.

Here’s who Red Wings selected in 2019 NHL Draft

Last year, the Red Wings selected 11 players in the 2019 NHL Draft, starting with a German defenseman in the 1st round. It was the second straight year that they picked 6th overall.

The Red Wings entered the 2019 draft lottery with the fourth-best chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick since they had the fourth-worst record in the NHL this season. They slid back, dropping two spots to No. 6 as Chicago (No. 12) and the New York Rangers (No. 6) moved up into the top-3.

Here's each pick:

• Round 1 -- 6th overall -- D Moritz Seider 🇩🇪 (view EP page)
• Round 2 -- 35th overall -- D Antti Tuomisto 🇫🇮 (view EP page)
• Round 2 -- 54th overall -- LW Robert Mastrosimone 🇺🇸 (view EP page)
• Round 2 -- 60th overall -- D Albert Johansson 🇸🇪 (view EP page)
• Round 3 -- 66th overall -- RW Albin Grewe 🇸🇪 (view EP page)
• Round 4 -- 97th overall -- C Ethan Phillips 🇨🇦 (view EP page)
• Round 5 -- 128th overall -- D Cooper Moore 🇺🇸 (view EP page)
• Round 6 -- 159th overall -- RW Elmer Soderblom 🇸🇪 (view EP page)
• Round 6 -- 177th overall -- D Gustav Berglund 🇸🇪 (view EP page)
• Round 7 -- 190th overall -- LW Kirill Tyutyayev 🇷🇺 (view EP page)
• Round 7 -- 191st overall -- G Carter Gylander 🇨🇦 (view EP page)

That’s five defensemen drafted by Detroit -- one in the first round, two in the second round, one in the 5th and another in the 6th.

Read back: Here’s who the Red Wings picked in the 2018 NHL Draft

Updates from the First Phase lottery drawing here: