2018 NHL Draft Lottery
When: Saturday, April 28th, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Toronto
TV: Sportsnet, NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports

It's time for the draft lottery, folks, and we have all you need to know.

All the non-playoff teams and their legions of loyal fans will have their eyeballs glued to the television Saturday evening to see which organization wins the right to the No. 1 pick of the 2018 draft.

While the format remains the same, with three lottery spots up for grabs, this year offers one interesting caveat, as picks No. 15 through No. 4 will be announced prior to Game 2 between the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks, while the top three picks won't be revealed until the second intermission.

Odds

Once again, the Buffalo Sabres have a chance at the top selection, and they'll be hoping to have some better luck than in years past.

There are a few conditions involved regarding the Senators, Flames, and Blues. Ottawa has said its 99.9 percent sure they'll be holding on to their pick, giving next year's first-rounder to the Colorado Avalanche, owed as a part of the Matt Duchene deal.

The Flames pick, meanwhile, is owed to the Islanders due to last offseason's Travis Hamonic trade, and the Blues can give the Flyers next year's pick if this year's is in the top 10, a condition manifested in the Brayden Schenn swap.

In the last two years, there has been a significant shakeup in the top three, and the Sabres, Senators, and Coyotes are surely hoping that's not the case this time around.

The prizes

For just the second time in 10 years, a defenseman is the consensus No. 1 pick. Here's some info on the projected top three prospects.

Rasmus Dahlin

The Swedish defenseman has been atop the draft rankings all year long, drawing comparisons to fellow countrymen Erik Karlsson and Nicklas Lidstrom. Not bad.

Dahlin is a generational talent and is expected to make an immediate impact in any organization lucky enough to land him.

View Dahlin's complete draft profile.

Andrei Svechnikov

The top forward in the class, Svechnikov is a gifted offensive talent that spent his draft year with the Barrie Colts of the OHL, recording 40 goals and 32 assists in just 44 games in his rookie year.

View Svechnikov's complete draft profile.

Filip Zadina

Zadina, a native of the Czech Republic, comes in as the third-ranked North American skater, and boosted his stock with a strong showing at the world juniors, burying seven goals in seven games.

The 18-year-old found the scoresheet consistently in the QMJHL, notching 82 points in 57 games for the Halifax Mooseheads.

View Zadina's complete draft profile.

The rest

Forward Brady Tkachuk, and blue liners Adam Boqvist, Quinn Hughes, and Evan Bouchard are among the other prospects projected to be drafted in the top 10. The complete list of rankings can be seen here.

If you'd like to run your own lottery, visit the NHL Lottery Simulator.

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Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette turned to Juuse Saros to start the third period of Game 1 versus the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night after Pekka Rinne allowed three goals through the opening 40 minutes.

Despite the Predators controlling the shots clock, the Jets solved Rinne three times on just 16 shots in the highly anticipated series opener.

Rinne entered the contest with a .909 save percentage in six playoff starts this season, and was also pulled in Game 3 versus the Colorado Avalanche.

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Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall, and Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar were named the finalists for the 2018 Hart Trophy as the league MVP, the NHL announced Friday.

This year's race was widely considered one of the most open in recent memory, with several candidates worthy of recognition. However, breakout seasons from MacKinnon and Hall, as well as a bounce-back from Kopitar, ultimately won out.

MacKinnon ranked fifth in league scoring with 97 points despite playing in just 74 games, and was the main reason the Avalanche qualified for the playoffs one season after finishing dead last in the standings.

The same can be said about Hall, who led the Devils to the postseason for the first time since 2012 after notching 93 points in 76 games - a run that included a historic 26-game point streak.

Kopitar was the centerpiece of a resurgent Kings team that returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence. The Los Angeles captain finished seventh in league scoring with 92 points and topped all forwards with more than 22 minutes logged per game - a resume that also earned him recognition as a Selke Trophy finalist.

The winner will be revealed at the NHL Awards on June 20 in Las Vegas.

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The San Jose Sharks will be without Evander Kane for Game 2 versus the Vegas Golden Knights, as the forward was suspended one game for a cross-check to the face of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, the Department of Player Safety announced.

Here's a look at the play, which occurred in the third period of Thursday night's blowout.

Kane was assessed a five-minute major and was tossed from the game after the incident.

The Golden Knights ultimately took the series-opening contest 7-0, and will look to win their sixth consecutive playoff contest Saturday night in Game 2.

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NHL linesman Don Henderson has been ordered by a judge to pay the Calgary Flames and former defenseman Dennis Wideman $11,000 to cover a fraction of the legal costs spent in their dismissed lawsuit, according to The Canadian Press.

Henderson filed a lawsuit against the NHL, the Flames, and Wideman seeking $10.5 million in damages after the 2016 incident in which Wideman struck Henderson from behind on his way to the bench.

Wideman was suspended 20 games for the play, while Henderson suffered permanent back and shoulder issues, a concussion, and depression as a result, and hasn't worked since. The suit was dismissed in February.

Henderson will have to pay Wideman $3,000 and the Flames $8,000.

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There are mixed messages coming from the NHL's head office.

The league's deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, insisted Friday that the NHL never told the Boston Bruins or Brad Marchand to tone down the tongue.

“No, we did not contact the Bruins or Brad Marchand regarding this incident,” Daly told USA Today Sports' Kevin Allen on Friday. "It’s just not true.”

Earlier on Friday, the talented Boston Bruins agitator denied receiving the warning by replying to tweets from the NHL on NBC and The Boston Globe accounts with "false" and "this is false," respectively.

Daly's denial came less than 24 hours after a league representative stated to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that the league had asked Marchand to stop licking players after he did just that to Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov in Game 1 of the teams' first-round series.

From Wyshynski's story, which followed up on a note from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman:

"The NHL felt Marchand's actions were a little less cute. A league spokesperson confirmed a report by Sportsnet that the NHL demanded Marchand not repeat that particular antic again. A message was communicated to Marchand through the series' supervisor of officials Mick McGeough."

After sending the "false" tweets, Marchand texted NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty to reiterate his denial and to accuse the NHL of being controlled by "the Toronto media" if they were to call him about it.

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Pending unrestricted free agent Tyler Bozak would prefer to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs next season.

"It would be my top priority to stay here," Bozak said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "My family loves it here, my kid loves it here, he thinks he owns the place. It’ll be tough on him if I’m not back."

Bozak has spent his entire nine-year career with the Maple Leafs after signing with the club as a college free agent out of Denver University in 2009.

The 32-year-old is coming off the final season of a five-year, $21-million contract, in which he put up his lowest goal total (11) since his rookie campaign and 12 fewer points (43) than he had in three fewer games last season.

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The Winnipeg Jets will welcome defenseman Toby Enstrom back to the lineup for Game 1 of their second-round series against the Nashville Predators on Friday, the team confirmed.

"This is exciting times, the time of year you want to play hockey so I’m just happy to be back," Enstrom said.

The 33-year-old has been sidelined since Mar. 23 with an ankle injury, but will slot back in alongside his regular defense partner Dustin Byfuglien.

"I played with him for a long time, so of course it's easier. I feel happy to have him on my side," Enstrom said of Byfuglien.

Enstrom was limited to 43 games this season where he contributed one goal and six points from the back end.

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