The time-honored tradition of NHL playoff combatants shaking hands upon the conclusion of a series is among the greatest displays of sportsmanship in professional team sports today. Seconds after the horn sounds at the end of a series, players and coaches from both teams convene at center ice to celebrate each other's efforts.
The videos below capture the final moments of play in each series-ending game to date in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs along with the ensuing traditional team handshake line, sorted by round and series end date.
Until 2013, only the league's five worst regular season teams were eligible for the top overall pick, allowing teams to advance up to four spots and fall only one spot in the lottery. That changed in 2013 with all non-playoff teams eligible for the top overall pick albeit with their statistical likelihood directly tied to their final regular season standing. Though, a team could still only fall one spot in lottery position.
In 2014, additional changes were implemented for the lottery to reflect the competitive balance of the league, with more balanced odds being introduced in 2015 and separate draws starting in 2016 for the top three positions (as opposed to just for the top overall pick), allowing the league's worst regular season performer to slip as low as fourth overall (as opposed to just second overall under the prior regime).
The added wrinkle to this year's offering is the introduction of the Vegas Golden Knights. This expansion team is participating in its first draft and has been accorded the same starting probabilities as the 28th place finisher (i.e., Arizona Coyotes). If neither Las Vegas or Arizona win any of the three lotteries (i.e., 1st pick, 2nd pick, 3rd pick), then Vegas shall pick immediately before Arizona.
Despite Buffalo earning its favored first selection (1st, 18.5%), this year lottery again defied the odds delivering top picks to underdogs Carolina (2nd, 3.3%), Montreal (3rd, 9.7%), moving up nine and two spots, respectively. Ottawa and Arizona were the biggest losers of this lottery, each dropping two spots. For the third straight year, Vancouver dropped in the lottery. This year it was only one spot (6th to 7th), as opposed to the two spot drop in 2016 (3rd to 5th), and the historic three spot slide of 2017 (2nd to 5th). Interesting that the worst NHL team over the past three seasons has selected no better than 5th in any entry draft during that span.
The chart below shows final draft position by team with accompanying odds of selecting first, second or third overall, along with their most likely seeding in the lottery.
Draft Position
1st Pick
2nd Pick
3rd Pick
Likely Pick
1. Buffalo
18.5%
16.5%
14.4%
4th (50.6%)
2. Carolina
3.0%
3.3%
3.6%
11th (69.6%)
3. Montreal
9.5%
9.6%
9.7%
6th (34.0%)
4. Ottawa
13.5%
13.0%
12.3%
4th (33.3%)
5. Arizona
11.5%
11.3%
11.1%
5th (37.7%)
6. Detroit
8.5%
8.7%
8.9%
6th (34.5%)
7. Vancouver
7.5%
7.8%
8.0%
7th (38.9%)
8. Chicago
6.5%
6.8%
7.1%
8th (39.5%)
9. NY Rangers
6.0%
6.3%
6.7%
9th (36.0%)
10. Edmonton
5.0%
5.3%
5.7%
10th (30.7%)
11. NY Islanders
3.5%
3.8%
4.1%
11th (25.7%)
12. NY Islanders
2.5%
2.7%
3.0%
12th (78.0%)
13. Dallas
2.0%
2.2%
2.4%
13th (85.5%)
14. St. Louis
1.5%
1.7%
1.8%
14th (91.8%)
15. Florida
1.0%
1.1%
1.2%
15th (96.7%)
Per HockeyViz math wiz Micah Blake McCurdy, the lowest seven finishers (i.e., 24th to 30th overall) are more likely to fall one spot in the draft than to move up under the current draft lottery mechanism. Remaining NHL Entry Draft positions are set after the playoffs with the Stanley Cup champion and runner-up picking 30th and 29th, respectively. Conference finalists (28th, 27th) as well as division winners and wildcard teams (26th through 15th) are then ordered among their respective subgroup based on regular season standings, positioning teams with better regular season records to pick later than their peers.
When it comes to the NHL Awards, a handful are earned on statistical achievement while the rest are won through votes cast by various organizations depending on the award. The chart below shows the award winners for the 2017 NHL season.
2017 NHL First All-Star Team honors went to Bobrovsky (G), Karlsson (D), Burns (D), McDavid (C), Kane (RW) and Marchand (LW). The 2017 NHL Second All-Star Team roster was Holtby (G), Hedman (D), Keith (D), Crosby (C), Kucherov (RW) and Panarin (LW).
The 2017 NHL All-Rookie Team was comprised of newcomers Matt Murray (G), Brady Skjei (D), Zach Werenski (D), Auston Matthews (F), Patrik Laine (F) and Mitch Marner (F).
The time-honored tradition of NHL playoff combatants shaking hands upon the conclusion of a series is among the greatest displays of sportsmanship in professional team sports today. Seconds after the horn sounds at the end of a series, players and coaches from both teams convene at center ice to celebrate each other's efforts.
The videos below capture the final moments of play in each series-ending game to date in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs along with the ensuing traditional team handshake line, sorted by round and series end date.
