2016 NHL Entry Draft Lottery: Open thread, odds, procedure, simulator, start time, and TV schedule

Start time and how to watch

Date: April 30, 2016
Time: 8:00 PM EDT, 5:00 PM PDT on CBC, TVA Sports, and NBC

The lottery will be broadcast ahead of Saturday night's playoff game between the Capitals and the Penguins. It can be seen on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada, and will be shown on NBC in the USA.

Click here to see detailed breakdown of the odds for every team, as well as the rules for the NHL Draft Lottery.

Here are the odds to win the first overall pick:

• Toronto Maple Leafs 20.0%
• Edmonton Oilers 13.5%
• Vancouver Canucks 11.5%
• Columbus Blue Jackets 9.5%
• Calgary Flames 8.5%
• Winnipeg Jets 7.5%
• Arizona Coyotes 6.5%
• Buffalo Sabres 6.0%
• Montreal Canadiens 5.0%
• Colorado Avalanche 3.5%
• New Jersey Devils 3.0%
• Ottawa Senators 2.5%
• Carolina Hurricanes 2.0%
• Boston Bruins 1.0%

Odds for the Montreal Canadiens:

• 1st overall: 5%
• 2nd overall: 5.6%
• 3rd overall: 5.4%
• 9th overall: 51.8%
• 10th overall: 28.6%
• 11th overall: 3.4%
• 12th overall: 0.1%/

The Habs have only selected in the top 10 twice in the last several years, and both picks resulted in fantastic players; Carey Price in 2005, and Alex Galchenyuk in 2012.

While you wait for the broadcast, here's a video from last year's lottery that demonstrates how the weighted lottery system determines the order.

You can also check out the aggregated rankings of the top 12 prospects available in the upcoming NHL draft by clicking here. Auston Matthews is clearly the favourite to go 1st overall, however there's an argument to be made for Patrik Laine taking that spot.

If you want to torture yourself as you wait, you can also head over to the NHL Lottery Simulator to get an idea of how process works.

Predict where the Habs will draft