Draft lottery details announced

Details have been released on this year's Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft lottery.

The draw, which will feature teams that finished in the bottom five of the league's overall standings (or the teams that hold those picks), will take place on Thursday, April 5 at 8 p.m. AST at TVA studios in Montreal. The event will air on TVA Sports.

Below are the odds each team has:

Of note, the Sea Dogs, who finished last, can not finish lower than third. While the odds are obviously in their favouring in terms of picking first or second, they could fall down to No. 3, which happened to the Moncton Wildcats last year.

Here is some more info, from a league press release:

After the team which will select during the first rank of the entry draft is determined, all the balls representing the team involved are removed from the draw. This process is repeated each time a team is drawn. However, if the Saint John Sea Dogs who finished last in the standing are not picked during the first or the second lottery draw, they will automatically be awarded the third draft pick overall. Equally, if according to the process described previously, the team that finished at the last rank is awarded automatically the third draft pick overall, or was selected during the first or the second draw, while the Shawinigan Cataractes who finished next to last have not yet been selected, then they will be automatically awarded the fourth draft pick overall.

The Sea Dogs have won every draft lottery they have taken part in previously - however, this will be the first time they take part in the five team process, rather than the two team format.

Saint John has selected first overall five times in team history - an incredible amount given the success the team has had in such a short period.

The 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft takes place on Saturday, June 2 in Shawinigan.