NHL Draft Lottery 2016: Selection Order Results, Analysis and Twitter Reaction

Toronto Maple Leafs fans were rewarded Saturday after watching their team finish at the bottom of the standings in 2015-16. The Leafs won the 2016 NHL draft lottery, granting them the first overall pick June 24.

Given how the season unfolded, the diehard supporters took full advantage of something good happening to the team, per Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski:

Canadian Soccer News' Duane Rollins was ready to commemorate the occasion:

The NHL used a new system to determine the order of the draft. Whereas the 2015 lottery decided the fate of only the top pick, the top three picks were up for grabs in the 2016 edition. Beyond that, the remaining 11 selections were determined by each team's point total.

Here's how the lottery unfolded:

Pick	Team
1	Toronto Maple Leafs
2	Winnipeg Jets
3	Columbus Blue Jackets
4	Edmonton Oilers
5	Vancouver Canucks
6	Calgary Flames
7	Arizona Coyotes
8	Buffalo Sabres
9	Montreal Canadiens
10	Colorado Avalanche
11	New Jersey Devils
12	Ottawa Senators
13	Carolina Hurricanes
14	Boston Bruins

A year ago, general managers were hoping to win the Connor McDavid sweepstakes; fans and writers alike almost universally agreed the young center was the best player available.

That distinction now belongs to American center Auston Matthews. The 18-year-old registered 24 goals and 22 assists in 36 games for the ZSC Lions in Switzerland, though the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones doesn't think Matthews is on McDavid's level as a prospect:

If the promising star doesn't follow Sportsnet's lead when he makes his entrance on draft night, he'll be letting hockey fans everywhere down:

One rookie, no matter how talented he is, can't turn an entire franchise around, so the Maple Leafs won't automatically become a Stanley Cup contender in 2016-17. Still, it's easy to see why fans are suddenly optimistic about where the team is headed.

As Sportsnet's Sid Seixeiro noted, a lot has changed in the course of a year:

CSN Mid-Atlantic's Alan May found the situation ironic:

The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs just once in the past 11 seasons, but between the hiring of head coach Mike Babcock prior to the 2015-16 season and the likely arrival of Matthews, Toronto is undoubtedly headed in the right direction.

TSN 1200's Ian Mendes wants to see the Leafs turn things around:

Some will inevitably question whether the fix was in, with the NHL intentionally giving Toronto the No. 1 overall pick. Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch was banking on crazy theories coming out of the woodwork:

Sportsnet's Eric Koreen hopes the Leafs' good luck Saturday will transfer to another Toronto sports franchise:

The Toronto Raptors will face off with the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of their first-round series in the 2016 NBA playoffs Sunday. As the Indianapolis Star's Candace Buckner noted, it could be a big week for the city:

While Matthews is the nearly undisputed top player, the competition for No. 2 will be tighter. A pair of Finnish wingers—Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine—look to be ahead of the pack, but Matthew Tkachuk, son of 18-year NHL veteran Keith Tkachuk, and Pierre-Luc Dubois will be hot commodities as well.

The Winnipeg Jets were the biggest winners in terms of moving up the furthest. They had the sixth-best odds of winning the No. 1 overall pick but climbed into second, so they'll have their pick from the best of the rest.

The Calgary Flames got bumped down to No. 6 as a result, and president of hockey operations Brian Burke was not enthused, per the Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur:

The Winnipeg Free Press' Mike McIntyre is already looking forward to a busy offseason for the Jets:

Sports Illustrated's Jonah Keri felt left out after the Montreal Canadiens didn't enjoy the same amount of fun as their Canadian brethren:

Now that the first 14 teams in the 2016 draft know where they will pick, they can start diving into their predraft preparations and identify potential targets. Matthews, Laine and Puljujarvi would've been on every general manager's board, but now a number of teams can eliminate those players as realistic options.

Teams will make their final evaluations at the combine in Buffalo, New York. Although the top of this year's class will garner the most attention, plenty of players lower in the pecking order will offer great value in the mid- to late stages of the first round.