NHL Draft 2016: We Ran the NHL Lottery Simulator 100 Times and Didn't Win Once

The 2016 NHL Draft Lottery is tomorrow! All across North America, but mostly in Canada, hockey fans are gearing up for the random drawing that could help determine their team's future. The best way to do that? A lottery simulator! A Buffalo-based web developer named Rob Zaenglein created the simulator, modeled after the actual picking of four numbered balls, to replicate the NHL's process and to give YOU an opportunity to see your favorite team win it! Even Vancouver GM Jim Benning uses it., so you know it must be 100% accurate.

2016 NHL Draft Simulator

We have some bad news, though. We tried out the simulator for ourselves to see if the Los Angeles Kings had a chance at presumptive #1 pick Auston Matthews, and the results were discouraging. The Kings didn't win once! In fact, in 100 simulations, the Kings didn't even land in the top three one time. Unbelievable!

We'll be spending the rest of the day running simulations, but at this point, LA's odds at landing Auston Matthews appear to be bleak. Is there a league conspiracy against the Kings, starting with Gary Bettman? Is it simply impossible for a team that made the playoffs AND traded their first-round draft pick to win the lottery? Has Edmonton stolen all of LA's lottery combinations to land yet another top pick? Is there a flaw with Rob Zaenglein's website? Or does LA's past lottery luck (after picking first in the 1967 Draft, they've never gotten the #1 pick again) continue to bite them?

Regardless of what the reasoning is, it looks like the Kings are doomed to remain at their current spot in the second half of the second round. Hope you didn't get your hopes up, Kings fans.

We actually did run the lottery simulator 100 times but, yes, we know LA can't actually win the lottery. For the actual odds of each team winning the #1 pick, visit NHL.com.