The NHL Draft Lottery was held on May 5, and it was determined that the Anaheim Ducks would hold the tenth overall selection in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, dropping two spots after holding the eighth-highest odds to win the lottery.
This will mark the Ducks’ seventh consecutive year drafting in the top ten. Ownership and the front office have a public mandate to make the playoffs in 2025-26 and put an end to the third-longest active playoff drought in the NHL.
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With one of the deepest and most potent cores of young players in the league, having taken a significant step in the standings in 2024-25, and holding the third-most available cap space in the NHL, the idea of Anaheim trading the tenth overall pick, whether on its own or as part of a package, in exchange for a proven impact player is something often speculated, validly so and especially in a draft where the caliber of player potentially available at ten may not reach that of year’s past.
The drawback to that idea lies in the rarity of such trades. In the last 15 years, only six top ten picks have been traded in the days leading up to or at the NHL Draft:
2011
To CBJ: Jeff Carter
To PHI: 2011 eighth overall pick (Sean Couturier), 68th overall pick, Jakub Voracek
2012
To CAR: Jordan Staal
To PIT: 2012 eighth overall pick (Derrick Pouliot), Brian Dumoulin, Brandon Sutter
2013
To NJ: Corey Schneider
To VAN: 2013 ninth overall pick (Bo Horvat)
2017
To ARI: Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta
To NYR: 2017 seventh overall pick (Lias Andersson), Anthony DeAngelo
2021
To VAN: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Conor Garland
To ARI: 2021 ninth overall pick (Dylan Guenther), Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, 2022 second-round pick, 2023 seventh-round pick
2022
To OTT: Alex DeBrincat
To CHI: 2022 seventh overall pick (Kevin Korchinski), 39th overall pick, 2024 third-round pick
When asked about his opinion on the infrequency of top ten picks being traded at the draft, Ducks assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Martin Madden gave his thoughts.
“I just think that most staffs, most GMs, you see it coming throughout the season,” Madden said. “You work hard to assess those top-15 guys in the draft. You know them best.
You know what you like, you know what you want, and, as it gets closer, you don’t want to let that go. I think that’s why most of those picks are never traded.”
Top ten picks in any draft are franchise-altering pieces. If they hit, they typically have the talent to become a core piece with the capacity to stabilize a roster for the foreseeable future. If a team misses on a top ten pick, however, it can set them back in their climb toward contention significantly. As seen in the above examples and in countless others where top picks were traded a year or two in advance, the team trading the pick away usually comes away worse off.
A couple of NHL teams are projected to be closing in on the salary cap ceiling for the 2025-26 season, leading some to speculate on the availability of talented players on their rosters. The Colorado Avalanche are projected to have $1.2 million in cap space with 19 players under contract, and the Dallas Stars are projected to have $4.96 million with 16 under contract.
Speculation suggests Stars forward Jason Robertson and Avalanche forward Martin Necas could be made available, as their UFA years are on the ever-nearing horizon. If speculation turns to reality, those are the caliber of players teams would likely be willing to part with a top ten pick for.
Deals involving top ten draft picks have become scarce in the landscape of the NHL trade market. However, in the event that a young, potential core piece becomes available, a team like the Ducks may be a candidate to be persuaded into trading their highest pick in the upcoming draft. If such a trade is to occur, it will likely be finalized on the first day of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft or the day preceding it.
Photo Credit: NHL.com
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