 The lottery formula was as follows - each team started with three balls in the lottery drum. For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick (a previous draft lottery win) over the last four years, a team lost one ball. But each team was guaranteed to have at least one ball in the lottery. The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order 'snaking' back and forth in a seven round draft.
The following list shows the results of the lottery, with each team's recent draft history to clarify how many balls each team had in the lottery.
Note: The draft order numbers shown reflect each team's position based on the final standings prior to that year's draft lottery and does not reflect trades made. Draft lottery winners are noted (*), since they lost a ball in the 2005 lottery formula.
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2005
Draft Position | Team
(Balls) | 2004
Draft Position | 2003
Draft Position | 2002
Draft Position | 2001
Draft Position |
| 1 | Pittsburgh (3) | 1st | 2nd | 5th | 22nd |
| 2 | Anaheim (2) | 9th | 19th | 7th | 5th |
| 3 | Carolina (2) | 8th | 1st | 25th | 14th |
| 4 | Minnesota (2) | 12th | 20th | 8th | 6th |
| 5 | Montreal (1) | 18th | 10th | 15th | 7th |
| 6 | Columbus (3) | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 8th |
| 7 | Chicago (2) | 2nd | 14th | 21st | 9th |
| 8 | Atlanta (2) | 10th | 8th | 1st | 3rd * |
| 9 | Ottawa (1) | 23rd | 29th | 16th | 27th |
| 10 | Vancouver (1) | 26th | 23rd | 17th | 16th |
| 11 | Los Angeles (2) | 11th | 13th | 18th | 18th |
| 12 | San Jose (1) | 28th | 6th | 27th | 20th |
| 13 | Buffalo (3) | 13th | 5th | 11th | 23rd |
| 14 | Washington (1) | 3rd * | 18th | 12th | 21st |
| 15 | NY Islanders (1) | 16th | 15th | 22nd | 1st |
| 16 | NY Rangers (3) | 6th | 12th | 10th | 10th |
| 17 | Phoenix (2) | 5th | 11th | 19th | 15th |
| 18 | Nashville (2) | 15th | 7th | 6th | 12th |
| 19 | Detroit (1) | 29th | 27th | 30th ** | 29th |
| 20 | Philadelphia (1) | 25th | 24th | 26th | 24th |
| 21 | Toronto (1) | 24th | 21st | 24th | 17th |
| 22 | Boston (1) | 27th | 16th | 29th | 13th |
| 23 | New Jersey (1) | 22nd | 30th ** | 20th | 28th |
| 24 | St. Louis (1) | 17th | 22nd | 23rd | 25th |
| 25 | Edmonton (2) | 14th | 17th | 14th | 19th |
| 26 | Calgary (2) | 19th | 9th | 9th | 11th |
| 27 | Colorado (1) | 21st | 26th | 28th | 30th ** |
| 28 | Dallas (1) | 20th | 28th | 13th | 26th |
| 29 | Florida (1) | 7th | 4th * | 3rd * | 4th |
| 30 | Tampa Bay (1) | 30th ** | 25th | 4th | 2nd |
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NHL Draft Lottery History |
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| Year | Worst Team | Lottery Winner | First Overall (Team) |
| 1995 | Ottawa | Los Angeles* | Ottawa |
| 1996 | Ottawa | Ottawa | Ottawa |
| 1997 | Boston | Boston | Boston |
| 1998 | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay |
| 1999 | Tampa Bay | Chicago** | Atlanta |
| 2000 | Atlanta | NY Islanders | NY Islanders |
| 2001 | NY Islanders | Atlanta | Atlanta |
| 2002 | Atlanta | Florida^ | Columbus |
| 2003 | Carolina | Florida^^ | Pittsburgh |
| 2004 | Pittsburgh | Washington | Washington |
* - Los Angeles could only move up a maximum of four spots (moved from 7th to 3rd)
** - Chicago could only move up a maximum of four spots (moved from 8th to 4th)
^ - Florida traded first overall pick to Columbus
^^ - Florida traded first overall pick to Pittsburgh