NHL schedules 2023 Draft Lottery for May 8; bottom 11 teams in running for Connor Bedard

Get your ping pong balls ready.

The National Hockey League announced Wednesday that it will hold its 2023 Draft Lottery on May 8, with the bottom 11 teams in the 2022–23 standings eligible to win the No. 1 pick — and the opportunity to select consensus top prospect Connor Bedard.

If the season were to end today, the Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, and Arizona Coyotes would have the best odds at picking first overall, with the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, and Washington Capitals also in the running.

Because of NHL rules limiting teams to moving up a maximum of 10 spots in the draft lottery, the middling Calgary Flames would not currently have a shot at Bedard — although they’d still have a small chance to move up from the 14th pick to No. 4 overall.

You’ll be able to watch the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery on Sportsnet and TVA Sports at 5:00 p.m. MT on May 8.

The Flames have never selected first overall in the draft since they joined the league as an Atlanta-based franchise in 1972. Since relocating to Calgary in 1980, the club’s highest-ever draft pick remains Sam Bennett (No. 4 overall in 2014).

During their Atlanta years, the Flames selected forwards Jacques Richard and Tom Lysiak with the No. 2 picks in 1972 and 1973. Although both players spent time with the Flames, neither remained with the franchise through its move to Calgary.

Richard scored 27 goals with the Flames in 1973–74 but is best remembered for a surprise 52-goal season with the Quebec Nordiques in 1979–80 (he only scored 24 goals in the rest of his career). Lysiak posted a pair of 80-point seasons with Atlanta before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1979.

When the Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, their roster featured far more late picks (Hakan Loob, Doug Gilmour, Theoren Fleury) and undrafted college signings (Joe Mullen, Joel Otto, Colin Patterson) than former top prospects. Al MacInnis and Gary Roberts were the only two Flames first-round picks on the 1989 team, and both were selected outside the top 10.

But the Flames did have one No. 1 draft pick on their Cup-winning roster: Rob Ramage, selected first overall by the Colorado Rockies in 1979 — and who was eventually traded by the St. Louis Blues to Calgary in exchange for a package including Brett Hull.