
Most of the NHL world's attention is rightly fixed on an exciting postseason. However, as is the case in the NBA, for the league's worst teams, a new season has already begun.
That season would be the run-up to the NHL draft, which is scheduled to be held this year on June 27 and 28 in Los Angeles. In the last decade or so, numerous franchises have seen a fortuitous ball bounce alter their destinies—the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 with center Connor McDavid or the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023 with center Connor Bedard, for instance.