NHL Draft Lottery: Isles Get First Pick

The NHL Lottery is a serious exercise in television programming. It takes an event that could be completed in less than five minutes and stretches it out into a 30 minute program that makes the jitters that much worse for the fanbases and teams involved.

That doesn't mean the Draft Lottery live on TSN Tuesday night was a bad thing, though. TSN did a nice job filling the other 25 minutes with interviews, prospect analysis and John Tavares vs. Victor Hedman hype tonight. But, at the end of the day, all we came to find out is the answer to the question "who will pick No. 1?"


In a lottery machine at NHL Headquarters in New York City, the lottery balls spun and the New York Islanders wound up with the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. In the top five, everything went according to the standings. Tampa Bay took second, Colorado third, Atlanta fourth and Los Angeles fifth.

Now, what happens with that first pick is anyone's guess and will likely continue to be until the entry draft in June. Speaking to Newsday reporter Greg Logan earlier today, GM Garth Snow said that the Islanders will consider "five or six" players. Last year, the Lightning announced that they would select Steven Stamkos live on the air when they grabbed the top spot. Tonight, Islanders representative Ken Morrow chose to do no such thing. And now, the speculation begins.