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The NHL Draft lottery is on Tuesday night, and it's a chance for teams that missed the playoffs to earn a pick that can land them a potential young star.
The Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs, but they won't have any fun during the lottery. No matter what happens, they won't have their first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Red Wings have the 15th-best lottery odds after just missing the playoffs.
That spot comes with a 1.1% chance of the fourth pick, a 0.1% chance of the sixth pick, a 97.9% chance of the 15th pick and a 1.1% chance of the 16th pick.
It won't be coming to Detroit, though.
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Why don't the Red Wings have their 2026 1st-round pick?
The Red Wings traded this pick away as they chased a playoff spot.
They sent it to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Justin Faulk.
At the time, it made sense. Detroit wasn't just in the playoff field at the trade deadline, but near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. This was meant to be a trade to put the Red Wings over the top.
Instead they collapsed out of the playoffs entirely, despite Faulk's added presence, and the trade just adds insult to injury.
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Wherever that Detroit selection ends up won't actually belong to the Red Wings. This pick already is the Blues' choice.
St. Louis also has the 11th-best lottery odds with their own pick from missing the playoffs, so that's two chances on Tuesday night.
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