Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The end of a very frustrating season for the Buffalo Sabres is coming – and odds are they will win enough games to draft lower than an immediate impact player, but with fewer than the required number of points for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Enter the new NHL draft lottery. In the past, if you won the draft lottery – you would move up no more than four positions in the draft. Well that meant that only the true bottom feeders in the standings had the chance to win big on draft lottery day and nail down the top pick in the draft. Changes to the NHL draft lottery system now allow all non-playoff teams to throw their hat in for the top pick in the draft. What are the odds of the Buffalo Sabres earning the top spot in the draft? Well that all depends on where in the standings they end up.

30th place: 25.0%

29th place: 18.8%

28th place: 14.2%

27th place: 10.7%

26th place: 8.1%

25th place: 6.2%

24th place: 4.7%

23rd place: 3.6%

22nd place: 2.7%

21st place: 2.1%

20th place: 1.5%

19th place: 1.1%

18th place: 0.8%

17th place: 0.5%

Given their current position, and that the team is making a last effort push to get into the top eight – I see the Buffalo Sabres falling into the 17-20 realm – and having slim hope of getting bumped up to number one in the draft. No team can move down more than one position based on the results of the lottery.

The NHL draft lottery is scheduled for April 29th, 2013. The Edmonton Oilers have selected first overall in the draft the last three season. The last team to select three times in a row with the first round pick was the Quebec Nordiques, with the first round picks in 1989, 1990, and 1991. No NHL franchise has ever selected first four times in a row.

The Buffalo Sabres have only ever selected first twice, the 1970 draft which gave them the original Buffalo Sabre – Gilbert Perreault, in 1987 when they selected Pierre Turgeon. Perreault is one of only eight top selections to have won the Calder trophy in their rookie year.