Buffalo Sabres: 2015 NHL Draft Lottery to be conducted Saturday

Winning team to be revealed in televised announcement on CBC, TVA Sports and NBC

The 2015 NHL Draft Lottery, a weighted system implemented and utilized to determine the order of selection in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft for the 14 clubs not qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (or the clubs that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams), will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 18.

The results of the Draft Lottery will be revealed live on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada and NBC in the U.S. immediately preceding the start of game two of the Penguins-Rangers first round series.

In August, the NHL announced changes to the Draft Lottery format. The changes included adjusting the odds of winning the first overall selection. The 10 highest-finishing non-playoff qualifying teams will receive higher (better) Draft Lottery odds than they received previously with the four lowest-finishing teams receiving lower (worse) odds.

Fourteen balls, numbered 1 to 14, are placed in a lottery machine.

The machine randomly selects four balls. The resulting four-number series (without regard to selection order) is matched against a chart that shows all possible combinations and the clubs to which each is assigned.

The chart of assigned combinations will be posted at www.NHL.com Friday. The complete process, including the video of the lottery drawing, also will be available on NHL.com after the lottery is conducted.