How the Canes Won the No. 2 Pick

Visit www.Hurricanes.com/Draft for the latest news, videos and pick-by-pick information in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Of the 1,001 possible lottery draw combinations in the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery, the Carolina Hurricanes owned just 30 winning four-digit combos - a slim 3 percent chance at leapfrogging their way to a top three pick in this year's draft.
From there, we know what happened: the Hurricanes defied the odds to win the second overall pick, the first time they have moved up in the draft order in 18 tries since the lottery was instituted in 1995.
But how did it happen?

That process played out in about 15 minutes time behind closed doors on Saturday, April 28, prior to the televised reveal of picks, segments of which stretched out over a few hours that night during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hurricanes President and General Manager Don Waddell was just as gripped by the drama of the reveal as the rest of us watching it unfold on television.
"That two hours seemed like eight hours," he recalled.
Meanwhile, the results of the lotteries were known by a handful of folks selected to be present inside a small room at Sportsnet's Hockey Central studios at the Canadian Broadcasting Center in Toronto.

Inside that room, with a practical but simplistic set-up featuring the lottery machine itself, a handful of TV screens and some light snacks, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman initiated the lottery draw process a little bit before 7 p.m. Eastern.
One-by-one, lottery balls numbered one through 14 were loaded into the machine. With the press of a green button, the balls dropped into the cylindrical container, and with the press of a blue button, the balls began to bounce and fly around in the machine.
"Begin," Bettman instructed with a brief wave of his right hand.
Lottery balls were drawn in 15-second intervals. The Buffalo Sabres, the favorite to win the first overall pick with 18.5 percent odds, landed the first winning four-digit combination.
"Release the remaining balls back into the machine, please," Bettman said after ensuring the representatives from the Ernst & Young accounting firm were set for the second lottery draw.
Green button. Balls in.
Blue button. Balls flying.
Fifteen seconds.
Red button. The first ball: 14.
Fifteen seconds.
Red button. The second ball: 5.
Fifteen seconds.
Red button. The third ball: 1.
With one ball left to draw, the
list of 1,001 combinations
had been whittled down to 11 potential four-digit winners. The Hurricanes owned just one of those 11 combinations, a 9.1 percent chance of winning the lottery. Detroit, Vancouver and the New York Islanders also each had a 1-in-11 shot. Buffalo had a 3-in-11 (27.3 percent) chance to win, which would have triggered a redraw, while Ottawa's odds were best to hang on to the second pick, with four of the 11 remaining combinations (36.4 percent).
Red button. The fourth ball: 2.
1, 2, 5, 14.
Representatives from Ernst & Young checked and double-checked the sequence before relaying the winner to Bettman.
"The second selection in the 2018 NHL Draft," he announced, his wide eyes punctuating the significance, "belongs to the Carolina Hurricanes."