How the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery be held

The NHL announced on Tuesday the protocol for the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery, with its first phase taking place on June 26.

The Lottery will be held at 5 p.m and will be televised live by NBCSN and the NHL Network (U.S.), Sportsnet and TVA (Canada) as well as streamed across NHL digital and social platforms.

The NHL Draft Lottery will determine the first 15 picks in the 2020 Draft based on 3-6 drawings over one or two phases, including the 7 teams that did not qualify for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 8 teams that lose in the Qualifying Round.

The First Phase of the draft lottery will be held on June 26, before the Qualifying Round. It will consist of three drawings and include the seven teams that did not qualify for the postseason and eight placeholder positions.

The lottery odds for the 7 non-playoff teams were determined by their point percentage during the current regular season, which was postponed on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus and ended Tuesday with the Return to Play Plan announcement.

The eight potential losing teams from the Qualifying Round will be represented in the First Phase of the draft lottery as unassigned picks.

The first drawing of the First Phase will set the team selecting No. 1 in the draft, the second drawing will set the team selecting No. 2, and the third drawing will set the team selecting No. 3.

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 Qualifying Round. That would take place between the end of the Qualifying Round and the first round of the playoffs.

After the first drawing, the odds for the remaining teams will increase on a proportionate basis for the second drawing, and again for the third drawing, based on which team wins the second drawing.

The number of drawings in the Second Phase would depend on how many picks in the First Phase are won by teams that lost in the Qualifying Round.