By Julie Glass
The Flyers were a failure on the ice in 2018-19, missing the playoffs yet again.
And they also failed on Draft Lottery night.
Two Metropolitan Division rivals, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, struck gold at the NHL Draft Lottery. They will pick No. 1 and No. 2 overall, respectively, at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft on June 21.
The Chicago Blackhawks, originally slated to draft 12th overall behind the Flyers, also jumped into the top three, pushing the Flyers back one slot from 10th to 11th.
Frank Seravalli of TSN reported that the Flyers actually had a 27 percent chance of winning the lottery prior to the final lottery ball, the second highest chance of any team behind the Devils.
A jump to No. 1 overall could have landed the Flyers Jack Hughes, the impact center they desperately crave. Instead he’ll be heading to either Newark or New York. Other than lottery balls being mean to the Flyers, they’ve met a few more bumps in the road.
