Was the 2024 NHL draft lottery leaked before the actual draw? Explaining viral photo of Lottery rehearsal

On Wednesday afternoon, social media was ablaze when prominent ESPN host John Buccigross leaked a photo of the NHL Draft set, featuring the top 16 teams vying for the top spot and a chance to draft Macklin Celebrini.

The official photo, which is no longer available but has been reshared thousands of times, may have just been a "rehearsal." So, no, the photo that popped up on his social was not the actual draft order. However, it would be oddly suspicious if the above photo was the draft order at 6:30 p.m. ET tonight.

Based on the latest draft odds at Tankathon.com, the league's worst team, the San Jose Sharks, has the best chance to be selected first overall, at 25.5%. According to the leaked photo, they are the draft lottery winners.

However, that's not all for surprises, as it appears that Utah will be a bigger winner on Wednesday night. Utah moved from the sixth-best odds into the number two spot, ahead of the 31st-ranked Chicago Blackhawks, last season's winners.

Potential NHL Draft Lottery results

Ultimately, this means that the Sharks stayed at the top spot while Utah moved up four places, pushing the Blackhawks to third, the Anaheim Ducks to fourth, the Columbus Blue Jackets to fifth, and the Montreal Canadiens to sixth.

Unsurprisingly, the rest of the draft order appears to be untouched and could go as follows:

• Ottawa Senators (7th)
• Seattle Kraken (8th)
• Calgary Flames (9th)
• New Jersey Devils (10th)
• Buffalo Sabres (11th)
• Philadelphia Flyers (12th)
• Minnesota Wild (13th)
• Pittsburgh Penguins (14th)
• Detroit Red Wings (15th)
• St. Louis Blues (16th)

Immediately after posting the photo to his X account, Buccigross took it down, but by then, everyone saw it, and those who grabbed a screenshot were now talking about how rigged the draft lottery was.

The NHL will deal with a media nightmare if the draft order does not change during the "live" broadcast this evening. It will be hard-pressed to explain how the order was captured in the afternoon when it was supposed to unfold publicly.

Realistically, the league is still dealing with the fallout from last season since the Blackhawks won the right to select Connor Bedard despite being in the media for burying a sexual assault claim during their Stanley Cup run in the early 2010s.

Many fans cried foul that the NHL gave the franchise a gift of the top pick despite some awful claims against the staff, including former head coach John Quenneville, who has yet to return to an NHL bench since the claims went public.

No matter what happens on Wednesday night, the NHL has its shady history with the draft lottery. The Edmonton Oilers miraculously landed the top pick in three consecutive seasons and four out of six, including Connor McDavid in 2016.

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers

It came at an exciting time, too, as owner Daryl Katz had convinced the City of Edmonton to build a brand new $500 million arena. Since then, McDavid has become the best player in the league, and the Oilers have not gotten any closer to a championship.

Meanwhile, when we look back at the overall history of the draft lottery, we see that the Penguins won the first-ever lottery, selecting Sidney Crosby, who saved the franchise in Steel City.

At the time, the Penguins needed a new arena, and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux was on the verge of relocating the team without a new facility. Luckily, the Penguins won the draft lottery, selected Crosby, and won three Stanley Cup titles from 2009 to 2016 while ushering in PPG Paint Arena in 2010.

Unlike the famous NBA draft in 1985, when the New York Knicks landed Patrick Ewing by a "frozen" envelope, the NHL does its business behind closed doors and unveils the draft cards on live TV.

However, the cat could be out of the bag after today's social media posting.