NHL Draft Lottery for Bedard to take place on May 8

The Connor Bedard Sweepstakes finally has a finish line.

The National Hockey League announced on Wednesday that the 2023 Draft Lottery will take place on Monday, May 8.

The much-anticipated draw will determine which of the bottom 11 non-playoff teams at the end of the season will land generational player and consensus No. 1 prospect Connor Bedard.

The 17-year-old has 61 goals and 125 points in 51 games this season for the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats and also tallied nine goals and 23 points in seven games at the 2023 World Juniors, leading Canada to a gold medal victory.

Beginning last year, a team participating in the Draft Lottery can move up only 10 spots in the order if it wins one of the lottery draws for the top two picks, so only the bottom 11 seeds are eligible for the first-overall selection.

While the last place team has an 18.5 per cent chance of winning the lottery for the No. 1 overall pick, the additional percentages from the five non-playoff teams that do not finish in the bottom 11 are applied to the 32nd-place team resulting in a 25.5 per cent chance to win the lottery for the No. 1 overall pick.

The 2023 NHL Draft will take place on June 28 and 29 in Nashville.