The Free Press’s Helene St. James reports that Daniel Cleary and Ken Holland will represent the Red Wings at the NHL’s draft lottery this upcoming Saturday in Toronto:
Daniel Cleary will know before anyone else with the Detroit Red Wings if they get lucky.
Cleary, the Red Wings’ player development assistant, will be the Wings man in the room Saturday in Toronto when the NHL holds the draft lottery to determine where this year’s non-playoff teams will pick in the first round of June’s draft. Cleary, along with other teams’ lottery witnesses, will not have any means of communication and will be sequestered until the news is revealed while televised (time TBD).
General manger Ken Holland will be the Wings’ representative during the TV show. The expected format is NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly first will announce the teams that pick from 15th to sixth, then taking a break before coming back to announce which team picks fifth, then fourth, then third, then first.
The Wings have 8.5 percent odds of picking first overall by virtue of finishing 26th in the standings. They could also win the rights to pick second overall or third overall. If teams who finished higher in the standings win the rights to any or all of the first three selections, the Wings could be pushed back from fifth to sixth, seventh or eighth. They can’t pick fourth.
