2007 NHL Entry Draft

The 2007 NHL Entry Draft was the 45th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted at Nationwide Arena in the city of Columbus, Ohio, on June 22, 2007. The draft consisted of seven rounds with rounds two through seven taking place on June 23, 2007. The draft was televised on TSN and RDS, with the first round simulcasted in the United States on Versus and in Europe on NASN.
Columbus Blue Jackets' President and General Manager Doug MacLean and the NHL announced the event on March 21, 2006. On March 13, 2007, it was reported that NHL owners had voted in favor of changes to the team ranking system which would begin at the 2007 draft. This draft marked the first time in NHL history in which American players were selected with the top two picks, with Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk being selected by the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively, and also tied the record of the most Americans being selected in the first round with 10 players.
Lottery system.
Starting with the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Stanley Cup champion and runner-up will receive the 30th and 29th picks, respectively. The conference finalists will get the 28th and 27th picks, and all other playoff teams will get picks based on their regular season point totals, but with the division winners getting the latest picks even if they had fewer points during the regular season than a non-division winner.
The draft order of the first 14 picks was determined by a lottery involving the non-playoff teams on April 10.
Under the weighted lottery system, the club with the fewest regular-season points had the greatest chance (25%) of winning the Draft Drawing and could pick no lower than second at the 2007 Entry Draft. The winner of the drawing would move up a maximum of four places, with all other clubs' draft order being adjusted accordingly (no team moving down more than one spot).
The Chicago Blackhawks, originally slated to draft in fifth place, won the lottery and as a result had the first overall pick in the draft.
Central Scouting final rankings.
Source: NHL Central Scouting Bureau