Columbus Blue Jackets press release...
COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Columbus Blue Jackets will have the eighth pick at the 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft to be held June 24-25 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The club’s draft position was determined by tonight’s NHL’s Draft Drawing. The Edmonton Oilers won the Drawing and will have the first overall pick.
The first 14 picks of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft are as follows: 1 – Edmonton Oilers; 2 – Colorado Avalanche; 3 – Florida Panthers; 4 – New Jersey Devils; 5 – New York Islanders; 6 – Ottawa Senators; 7 – Atlanta Thrashers; 8 – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS; 9 – Boston Bruins (from Toronto Maple Leafs); 10 – Minnesota Wild; 11 – Colorado Avalanche (conditional from St. Louis Blues); 12 – Carolina Hurricanes; 13 – Calgary Flames; 14 – Dallas Stars. The remaining draft positions will be determined at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Draft Drawing is a weighted lottery system that determines the order of selection for the first 14 picks of the Entry Draft. Clubs that did not qualify for this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, or clubs that acquired the first-round picks of those non-playoff clubs, participated in the Draft Drawing. Participating clubs could not move up more than four positions or down more than one position in the draft order as a result of the Draft Drawing.
Under this system, the club with the fewest regular-season points had the greatest chance (25%) of winning the Draft Drawing and could pick no lower than second at this year’s draft. The percentage chance of being selected in the 2011 Draft Drawing was as follows, based on team finish: Edmonton (25.0 pct.), Colorado (18.8 pct.), Florida (14.2 pct.), NY Islanders (10.7 pct.), Ottawa (8.1 pct.), Atlanta (6.2 pct.), COLUMBUS (4.7 pct.), New Jersey (3.6 pct.), Boston from Toronto (2.7 pct.), Minnesota (2.1 pct.), Colorado from St. Louis (1.5 pct.), Carolina (1.1 pct.), Calgary (0.8 pct.) and Dallas (0.5 pct.).
The 2011 NHL Entry Draft will take place at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The first round will be held on Friday, June 24, with rounds two through seven held on Saturday, June 25. Last week, NHL Central Scouting released its final player rankings for this year’s Entry Draft. The top five rated North American skaters are: center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer/WHL), left wing Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener/OHL), center Jonathan Huberdeau (Saint John/QMJHL), defenseman Dougie Hamilton (Niagara/OHL) and defenseman Nathan Beaulieu (Saint John/QMJHL). The top-rated European skater is defenseman Adam Larsson (Skelleftea/Sweden), while the top-rated North American goaltender is John Gibson (USA U-18/USHL).
BLUE JACKETS DRAFT DRAWING HISTORY
2000 – Lost coin flip with fellow expansion club 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 (see below).
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.
(*pick acquired by Columbus, which selected Rick Nash No. 1 overall)
2005 – To determine the 2005 Entry Draft order after the 2004-05 season was cancelled due to the lockout, each team began the lottery with three balls and was assured of having at least one for the drawing. Teams lost one ball for every playoff appearance they made over the past three seasons and/or for the number of times they were awarded the first overall pick by winning the Draft lottery during the past four years. The Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres each had three balls in the lottery. Anaheim, Atlanta, Calgary,Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville and Phoenix all had two balls. The remaining 16 teams had one ball each. The Blue Jackets earned the No. 6 pick.
