NHL Lottery 2015: Final Standings and Odds for Non-Playoff Teams

The NHL has changed its lottery system a bit this year, giving the league's worst team lower odds of getting the top overall pick but guaranteeing it nothing worse than the No. 2 pick. And this year in particular, the Buffalo Sabres have to be thrilled with that decision. 

Below, we'll review the final NHL standings, lottery odds and the reason why the Sabres are perfectly fine with a guaranteed top-two selection at the expense of their percentage chance of nabbing the top overall pick. 

Standings

Eastern Conference	DIV	W	L	OT	P
Western Conference	DIV	W	L	OT	P
NY Rangers	M	53	22	7	113
Montreal	A	50	22	10	110
Tampa Bay	A	50	24	8	108
Washington	M	45	26	11	101
NY Islanders	M	47	28	7	101
Detroit	A	43	25	14	100
Ottawa	A	43	26	13	99
Pittsburgh	M	43	27	12	98
Boston	A	41	27	14	96
Florida	A	38	29	15	91
Columbus	M	42	35	5	89
Philadelphia	M	33	31	18	84
New Jersey	M	32	36	14	78
Carolina	M	30	41	11	71
Toronto	A	30	44	8	68
Buffalo	A	23	51	8	54
Anaheim	P	51	24	7	109
St. Louis	C	51	24	7	109
Nashville	C	47	25	10	104
Chicago	C	48	28	6	102
Vancouver	P	48	29	5	101
Minnesota	C	46	28	8	100
Winnipeg	C	43	26	13	99
Calgary	P	45	30	7	97
Los Angeles	P	40	27	15	95
Dallas	C	41	31	10	92
Colorado	C	39	31	12	90
San Jose	P	40	33	9	89
Edmonton	P	24	44	14	62
Arizona	P	24	50	8	56

Lottery Odds

Team	Odds
Buffalo Sabres	20.0%
Arizona Coyotes	13.5%
Edmonton Oilers	11.5%
Toronto Maple Leafs	9.5%
Carolina Hurricanes	8.5%
New Jersey Devils	7.5%
Philadelphia Flyers	6.5%
Columbus Blue Jackets	6.0%
San Jose Sharks	5.0%
Colorado Avalanche	3.5%
Florida Panthers	3.0%
Dallas Stars	2.5%
Los Angeles Kings	2.0%
Boston Bruins	1.0%

Connor McDavid

How good is Connor McDavid? He's the best prospect to hit the NHL since Sidney Crosby—that's how good he is. And he does things like this:

Pretty impressive, right?

Sam Reinhart, the brightest prospect the Sabres currently have, would certainly love to see the Sabres nab the first overall pick and select McDavid. He praised him to Leo Roth of the Democrat and Chronicle: 

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"To be able to have him (as a Sabres teammate) would obviously be very exciting,'' Reinhart said.

McDavid, whose Erie team has made the Ontario Hockey League's conference finals, tallied 285 points in 166 regular season games for the Otters. I've seen him play twice in person and each time the hockey hero of my childhood came to mind: Gil Perreault.

"There's nothing you can say bad about the guy,'' Reinhart said. "Most people know what kind of player he is but he's a better guy in the locker room, a humble guy, which is my view is more important.''

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He's also wildly talented, which helps. He's a natural scorer who has more skill than any other player in this draft. His quick hands, vision and playmaking abilities make him a generational talent, and whichever team ends up with him is getting a player who will not only contribute immediately but could dominate the NHL for the next 15 years. 

McDavid is as good as it gets at the NHL draft. 

Jack Eichel 

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

If McDavid is this draft's Superman, than Jack Eichel is certainly its Batman.

He's explosive on the ice. He snaps powerful wrist shots that befuddle goalies. He has a bit more power to his game, a bit more lateral ability, where McDavid is the faster end-to-end skater. Eichel thrives in traffic, driving past blueliners or shielding them from the puck as he drives toward the net or finds a teammate to set up for a scoring opportunity. 

His style has led to some very lofty comparison, per Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald:

That might be a bit drastic, but there's no question that Eichel is special. Whether he's Hall of Fame special remains to be seen, but Buffalo has to be thrilled that he's the consolation prize if it doesn't get the No. 1 pick.

Noah Hanifin

In years past, Noah Hanifin would have been much more than an afterthought in the lottery. Not that the likely third overall pick will be an afterthought, but this year's draft is very much all about McDavid and Eichel, probably the best pair of prospects atop the draft board since Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. 

Hanifin is going to be a very good blueliner, however, and may yet convince folks that the 2015 NHL draft was a three-player draft—not a dynamic duo. He's a big, strong, athletic defenseman who will bang on the boards and will be a cornerstone on a team's blue line for years to come. 

Not too shabby for a consolation prize, right?