The San Jose Sharks will not have the best odds of winning next month’s NHL Draft Lottery and selecting superstar-in-waiting Connor Bedard.
The Anaheim Ducks lost to the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in regulation time Tuesday night and with only one game left, will not be able to catch the Sharks in the NHL’s overall standings.
Anaheim can now reach a maximum of 60 points and 14 regulation-time wins, the NHL’s first tie-breaker. The Sharks already have 60 points with 16 regulation-time wins.
The team that finishes last in the NHL’s overall standings will have a 25.5 percent chance of winning the May 8 draft lottery and picking No. 1 overall on the first day of the NHL Draft on June 28 in Nashville.
The Sharks entered Wednesday 29th in the league’s overall standings, but there remains a possibility – however remote – for them to fall to 30th or 31st behind both or one or both of the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Sharks close the regular season with games in Calgary and Edmonton on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. If San Jose loses both games in regulation time, and the Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the Sharks will fall to 30th.
The Sharks would also drop in the overall standings if they gain just one (or none) of a possible four points against the Flames and Oilers, and the Blue Jackets beat both the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and the Buffalo Sabres on Friday on the final day of the regular season.
Tuesday, the Blackhawks beat the Penguins 5-2 on Tuesday to improve to 58 points with 18 regulation time wins, and the Blue Jackets lost to the Flyers 4-3 in overtime. Columbus has 15 regulation-time wins.
If the Sharks and Blue Jackets both finish with 60 points and 16 regulation-time wins, the next tie-breaker would be regulation or overtime wins. Columbus would ‘win’ that, as it has 23 and San Jose has 21.
Regardless of what happens, the Sharks can finish no higher than 29th overall, and will clinch that spot with a win or two overtime or shootout losses in their final two games.
At a minimum, the Sharks will have a 9.5 percent chance of drafting first overall and a 9.8 percent of drafting at No. 2. If San Jose does finish 29th, it would also have a 15.4 percent chance of drafting fourth overall, a 44.9 percent of picking fifth and a 20.5 percent chance of picking sixth.
The team that finishes 31st overall will have a 13.5 percent chance of drafting first overall, and the 30th-place team will have an 11.5 percent chance.
Bedard finished his draft-eligible season Monday as his Regina Pats lost to the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL playoffs. Bedard finished with 82 goals and 163 points in 64 regular-season and playoff games.
The Sharks have not selected No. 6 or higher in any draft since 2003 when they took forward Milan Michalek sixth overall.
Here’s where things stand with three days left in the regular season.
STANDINGS
TEAM RECORD PTS REG. WINS GR
San Jose 22-42-16 60 16 2
Chicago 26-49-6 58 18 1
Anaheim 23-46-12 58 13 1
Columbus 24-47-9 57 15 2
REMAINING SCHEDULE (all times Pacific)
Wednesday
Sharks at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Thursday
Pittsburgh at Columbus, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at Chicago. 5:30 p.m.
Sharks at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
Friday
Buffalo at Columbus, 4:30 p.m.
Source: www.mercurynews.com