The Columbus Blue Jackets officially have the 14th selection in June's NHL Draft.
The pick became official after Tuesday's live draft lottery.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who had the 5th-best odds, won the lottery and will make the first pick in June's draft, which is widely assumed to be forward Gavin McKenna.
The Blue Jackets entered the lottery with and a 1.5% chance of "winning" the lottery and moving up to number four. A team can only move up ten spots, hence the fourth overall pick having been the best-case scenario for Columbus.
Our Ed Francis summed up the possible draft scenario odds for where the Blue Jackets would pick in the April 25 weekly roundup:
DRAFT LOTTERY POSSIBILITIES
The Blue Jackets aren't officially locked into the #14 pick in the NHL Draft, but odds certainly point that way.
Columbus has a 94.7% chance of picking 14th when the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery takes place on Tuesday, May 5. Other possibilities:
If they "win" the lottery — which they have a 3.2% chance to do — they'll move up to 4th. A team can't move up more than ten spots, so 4th is as high as the Blue Jackets can get.
If a team behind them (the Detroit Red Wings or Washington Capitals) wins the lottery, that will bump the Blue Jackets back to 15th. There is a 2.1% chance that happens.
Also technically possible: 5th, 6th, and 16th — though the odds are so microscopic, they register as less than a 0.1% chance.
Just last season, the Blue Jackets had the 14th and 20th selections. They took defenseman Jackson Smith with the 14th pick and goaltender Pyotr Andreyanov with the 20th selection. Columbus drafted Alexander Wennberg with the 14th overall pick in 2013, the only other time they've had the pick.
The Blue Jackets are coming off yet another season in which they were thick in the playoff race only to fall short amid a 2-7-1 slump in their final 10 games. They're hoping the incoming crop of prospects will be able to pay dividends sooner than later.
The draft will take place June 27 and 28 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
