SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the lottery for the first pick in the NHL draft.
The victory comes at a critical time for Toronto in the aftermath of hiring former Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka as its GM and bringing back franchise legend Mats Sundin to serve as a hockey operations adviser.
The future of captain Auston Matthews, the team’s best player and an Arizona native, is the biggest question after he missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. It’s the first time the Maple Leafs have won the lottery since taking Matthews with the No. 1 pick in 2016.
They had the fifth-highest odds of winning it at 8.5%. Vancouver had the highest at 18.5% and has never had the first pick in the draft. Toronto would have had to transfer its pick to Boston to complete a trade last year for Brandon Carlo had it not been in the top five.
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Boston and Philadelphia, as a result, will get the Leafs’ first-round picks in 2027 and ’28. For this draft, Penn State’s Gavin McKenna and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg are rated as the top North American and European prospects by NHL Central Scouting.
The San Jose Sharks won the lottery for the second pick.
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