Flyers drop to No. 11 in first round after NHL draft lottery; Devils get top pick

The Flyers were hoping to have the same luck in Tuesday night’s NHL draft lottery that they had in 2017.

This time, they weren’t as fortunate.

They didn’t climb to Nos. 1, 2, or 3, and they will pick No. 11 -- one below their earned position -- when the first round of the draft is held June 21 in Vancouver.

Making matters worse: Two of their division rivals, New Jersey and the New York Rangers, climbed into the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, in the lottery held in Toronto.

Center Jack Hughes and right wingers Kaapo Kakko and Vasil Podkolzin are regarded as the best players in the draft. The first two are game-changers, scouts say.

It’s the second time in three years that New Jersey moved up and got the No. 1 overall pick. The Devils moved from No. 3 to No. 1 Tuesday. They selected center Nico Hischier No. 1 in 2017.

Colorado, which had the best odds (18.5 percent) to get the top pick, slipped from No. 1 to No. 4. The Rangers had the sixth-best odds (7.5 percent) and advanced to No. 2. Chicago had a 2.5 percent chance at No. 1 and moved to No. 3.

The Flyers, who finished with a 37-37-8 record, had a 3.5 percent chance to climb to No. 1 in the lottery, and the odds were slightly higher that they would advance to No. 2 or 3.

At No. 11, some of the best players who might be available, based on projections, are left winger Matthew Boldy; centers Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, Peyton Krebs, Trevor Zegras, Alex Turcotte, and Raphael Lavoie; and right winger Arthur Kaliyev.

The last time the Flyers had the 11th overall pick, they selected Samuel Morin in 2013. They took Jeff Carter at No. 11 in 2003.

In his season-ending news conference Monday, Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher called it an “above-average and good draft year.”

The Flyers have 10 picks in the seven-round draft.

“The top end of the draft, I believe, is strong,” Fletcher said. “The top three have gained a lot of notoriety, and from what I’ve seen, justifiably so. To me, it looks like there are really good players in the first half of the first round. In particular, I think the draft looks pretty good – and even into the second round you’re getting players better than you would in most years.”

In 2017, the Flyers had a 2.2 percent chance to win the lottery and get the first pick and a 2.4 percent chance to get the No. 2 selection. They ended up with the No. 2 pick and selected center Nolan Patrick, who had once been a teammate of Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League.

Patrick, now 20, has scored 13 goals in each of his first two seasons.