Ranking the biggest threats to beat the Blackhawks for the top pick in the NHL Draft

The Blackhawks have a much better chance to win the NHL Draft Lottery in 2025 than 30 of the league’s other 31 teams as of Friday. Yeah, Blackhawks fans all over the hockey landscape are probably wondering ‘Why us?’ and ‘What does this team need to do if they want to get relevant again?’

Not even the ‘get relevant again’ part, really. Instead, maybe something like, ‘What does this team need to do so they can bust out of ‘top three’ consideration in seemingly every draft?’ But, with all the recent criticism surrounding star player Connor Bedard, one of the best ways to end that relentless assault from the hockey media is to find him a young, viable teammate with star potential. 

So, let’s embrace the fact that the Hawks are in contention for another top-three pick because someone like Porter Martone or Michael Misa looks like surefire winners and potential top selections. That said, it makes sense to at least somewhat pull for the Hawks, counterintuitive as it is, to win the lottery. 

But guess what? There are a few other teams out there that would like to win it too. Let’s rank them. 

5 - Buffalo Sabres

I hesitated to put the Sabres on this list because outside of a slew of injuries that inevitably led to a 13-game losing streak, this is an above-average team with a bad points total. And if the Elias Pettersson rumors are true and he ends up in the City of Good Neighbors, the Sabres aren’t snagging the top pick this season. 

4 - Philadelphia Flyers

Like the Sabres, the Flyers have talent and even a brewing game-changer in Matvei Michkov. But the problem is, they can’t stop anyone and it’s painful to follow. The Flyers aren’t a terrible team, but until they get it together when they don’t have the puck, they will be serious contenders for the top pick.

3 - Seattle Kraken

Another team that’s been painful to follow, the Seattle Kraken are a unit that I thought would either be halfway decent or horrible at this point in the year. It turns out, they’re the latter. And if they continue to tank, they’re going to be right down there with the Hawks and the final two teams on this list as the season reaches its twilight. 

2 - Nashville Predators

Nobody saw this one coming with the Nashville Predators, but they proved you can’t always buy success in this league. I’m interested to see what they’ll do at the trade deadline and if they sell, sell, and sell some more, they may supersede the final team on this list. 

1 - San Jose Sharks

The Macklin Celebrini-Connor Bedard debate will reach its next phase in this draft, and it could even evolve depending on who the Sharks and Blackhawks pick. I can see one landing Porter Martone and the other, Michael Misa, and both players can complement Bedard and Celebrini, respectively. 

But, it wouldn’t be as ideal to give the Sharks the No. 1 selection, leaving the Hawks with the potential leftover. And I guess you can put James Hagens in that crowd, too.