The NHL Board of Governors has approved changes for next year's draft lottery system, sources told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun Thursday.

Those changes, which must also be approved by the NHL Players' Association, would go into effect for the 2015 entry draft, a heavily anticipated class that features highly touted prospect Connor McDavid.

A source informed ESPN.com that the changes approved when the board of governors met Thursday in Manhattan include the compression of odds among the 14 non-playoff teams as well as increasing the number of selections determined by draft lottery law.

The changes likely will be a source of consternation for some, especially those with a stockpile of high picks for 2015.

Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray, whose team has three first-rounders in 2015, is among those executives who can't be happy with the development.

Murray told reporters earlier this month at the meeting of the general managers that he did not anticipate any changes happening soon. In fact, he suggested that it shouldn't be enacted any sooner than five years out, "so you don't know who's getting punished."

Apparently, that belief was not shared by everyone.