Canucks 2021 NHL Draft Lottery Primer

The 2021 NHL Draft Lottery will take place virtually on Wednesday, June 2 from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey and will be broadcast on Sportsnet at 4:00 PM PST.

All teams that did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, plus the Seattle Kraken, will participate in the 16-team Draft Lottery.
The Draft Lottery will consist of two drawings. The first drawing will determine the team selecting first overall, while the second drawing will determine the club selecting second overall. The 14 teams not selected will be assigned their draft selection 3-16 in inverse order of regular-season points.
The Canucks are well-positioned to add another exciting player to what is already one of the best young cores in the NHL.
After finishing 23-29-4 with 50 points in the NHL's 56-game shortened season, the Canucks have been given the ninth-best odds (5.4%) of landing the first overall pick. The Buffalo Sabres have the best chance (16.6%) of drafting first overall after finishing the season with the NHL's worst record.
The Canucks' odds of selecting first overall are technically a bit better than listed below due to a situation with the Arizona Coyotes. Arizona has a 3.1 percent chance of moving up to first overall, but have forfeited their first-round pick as a result of sanctions imposed by the NHL for prospect testing in 2020. If the Coyotes win the Draft Lottery, there will be a re-draw.
There's also an 11.1% chance of the Canucks moving into the top 2. The most likely outcome for Vancouver at 58.6% is picking ninth overall.
Since 2016, the NHL has done three drawings to determine the top three sections in the NHL Draft. The league's Board of Governors approved the reduction to two drawings this year to ensure that the team that finishes last in the NHL standings picks no lower than No. 3.
There are also other rule changes to the NHL Draft Lottery that will go in effect in 2022:
Luck hasn't been on the side of the Canucks in recent NHL Draft lotteries. Fortunately, the team has been able to draft franchise-changing players despite the lottery misfortunes. In 2017, the Canucks had the second-best odds at landing the first overall pick. They were bumped down to fifth overall, where they drafted Swedish phenom Elias Pettersson.
In 2018, the Canucks were bumped down one spot to seventh overall, where they selected dazzling blueliner Quinn Hughes. 2019 was the year they moved down one spot to 10th overall, where they drafted Russian forward Vasily Podkolzin. Vancouver did not have a first-round draft pick in 2020.

Is 2021 the year the odds shift in favour of the Canucks?
Here's a look at the consensus top five overall picks in the 2021 NHL Draft, along with brief synopsis from NHL Central Scouting. Quinn Hughes' brother, Luke, is among the top prospects in this year's class.
This will be an interesting year for the NHL Draft due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many junior players had their seasons cut short, limited or cancelled due to the virus. As a result, scouting reports may not be as in-depth as previous years. There's greater potential than ever to secure a late-round gem.
The Draft Lottery hasn't been kind to the Canucks lately, but the team is set up nicely to add an impact player in 2021 no matter how things shake out Wednesday evening.