Slim chance at Bedard: Canucks draft lottery odds are now set

The Vancouver Canucks will have a chance at winning the first overall pick at next month’s draft lottery. We can say that much.

But it’s not a good chance.

The Canucks will finish the season in 22nd place, and will most likely pick 11th in the upcoming draft. They’ll have just a 3% chance at getting Connor Bedard — the longest odds among the 11 teams eligible to win the first pick. They’ll also have a 3.3% shot at moving up to second place.

The Canucks have a 79.9% chance to pick 11th, a 13.4% chance to drop to 12th, and just a 0.5% shot at picking 13th.

Vancouver didn’t get any semblance of help from the out-of-town scoreboard on Thursday, as the three teams around them all lost. Washington blew a 3-0 lead and lost 5-4 in overtime to New Jersey, Detroit was blown out (5-0) by Tampa Bay, and St. Louis was shut out (1-0) by Dallas.

Heading into the night, the Canucks could have dropped to as low as 25th place. Instead, they moved from 23rd to 22nd, passing the Blues in the standings.

What a difference a couple months makes, as the Canucks were seven points behind Detroit, 10 points behind St. Louis, and 17 points behind Washington when Bruce Boudreau was fired on January 22.

The NHL regular season concludes on Friday, with just two games on the schedule. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin on Monday.

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