[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by cowtown75

Maybe I'm having a brain fart here, but I don't remember the playoff results having to do with the draft order. So if I'm messed up here, how exactly does it work ?

From wikipedia:

At the conclusion of the regular season, the 14 NHL teams not qualifying for the playoffs are entered in a weighted lottery to determine the initial draft picks in the first round, seeded according to regular season standing. The 30th-place team has the best chance of winning the lottery while the 29th-place team has a 18.8% chance of winning, with odds diminishing to a 0.5% chance for the 17th-place team. A single selection from the lottery pool is made, with the winning team improving its draft position to the number 1 spot, and no team dropping more than one place.


The remaining order is determined by the Stanley Cup playoff results.[8] Whichever team wins the Stanley Cup is awarded the 30th and last pick, while the runner-up is given the 29th pick. The teams eliminated in the conference finals are awarded the 28th and 27th picks, with the 28th pick going to the team with the better regular season record. Remaining division winners are then sorted by points, then the rest of the field are ranked next, filling in the 26th through 15th picks. In both cases, better records result in later picks.[6]