The Flyers are movin' on up. Waaay up.
The NHL held its annual draft lottery on Saturday night in Toronto to determine the first 15 picks in the first round of the 2017 NHL draft and the Flyers shocked everyone.
They came into the lottery in the 13th position and despite l-o-n-g odds, managed to catapult themselves into the No. 2 pick.
New Jersey won the top pick with Dallas taking the third. Neither Colorado, which had the worst record in the league, nor the Vegas Golden Knights, an expansion team, finished in the top three.
It's sweet revenge for finishing last in 2007 and not getting the top pick (Patrick Kane), which went to Chicago. The Flyers chose James van Riemsdyk that draft.
Suddenly, the Flyers have a shot at picking from among the top-five forward prospects, as ranked by NHL Central Scouting for this draft. They are: Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier, Casey Mittelstadt, Gabriel Vilardi and Michael Rasmussen.
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Obviously, not making the playoffs has its rewards.
Dave Hakstol's club had a 2.2 percent chance to capture the first overall pick, as well as a 2.4 percent chance and 2.7 percent chance at the second and third overall pick, respectively.
They beat the odds.
The highest percentage saw them remaining at 13th overall (84.3 percent).
Because of the rules of the lottery, the 12 clubs not selected in the NHL draft lottery will be assigned NHL draft selections four through 15, in inverse order of regular-season points.
Hence, the Flyers could not pick fourth-12th and could only pick in the 1-3 positions, or fall to 14th (8.3 percent) or 15th (0.1 percent).
As was the case last year, the first three picks are decided by a lottery, but this year also included the newest NHL franchise, the Golden Knights, as part of the group.
Vegas was given the same odds as the team finishing with the third-fewest points during the 2016-17 regular season and held a 10.3 percent chance at winning the first overall pick.
The best chance at No. 1 overall going in was the Colorado Avalanche (18 percent) followed by the Vancouver Canucks (12.1 percent). Vegas and the Arizona Coyotes were next (10.3 percent).
Vegas was guaranteed to pick no lower than the sixth overall selection, but held a 30 percent chance to finish with either the first, second or third overall pick.
The draft is June 23-24 in Chicago.
