Islanders Win 2025 NHL Draft Lottery

The 2025 NHL Draft is rapidly approaching, and that's great news for the New York Islanders. While the remaining eight teams vying for the Stanley Cup continue their postseason quests, there are a dozen or so other organizations intently watching the lottery for the upcoming entry-level draft. This year's lottery was the first one to be held live in-studio, meaning everyone found out the results together in real time.

As the hockey world watched, the Islanders became the lucky recipients of the number one overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. The Islanders finished the 2024-2025 season 35-35-12, just barely missing the postseason. Now that they have the chance to add the top player in the 2025 draft, New York could be returning to the postseason in 2026.

The Islanders entered this year's lottery with a minuscule chance of winning the first overall pick. They carried a 3.5% chance of winning the lottery prior to the draw, but luck was on their side this time. The Isles beat out teams like the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Nashville Predators, who each entered the lottery with greater than a 10% chance of winning. The Sharks wound up with the second overall pick after the Utah Hockey Club won the second drawing, giving them the fourth overall selection.

This is the organization's second time winning the draft lottery and will select first overall. The last time they did so was in 2009, when they selected a talented Canadian forward named John Tavares.

The big question now is who they will target with the top overall pick. A few players are considered to be the top prospects heading into the 2025 draft, including defenseman Matthew Schaefer and forwards Michale Misa and James Hagens. Each has a solid case to be the top pick, but it's now up to the Islanders to make the final decision.