fom William Burchfield of CBS Detroit,

The NHL won’t release its draft lottery odds for another month or two, but Detroit has helped itself out of late. Prior to its current skid, which has yielded one point in seven games, the team ranked 23rd overall. Last year, that would have earned the Red Wings a 5.4 percent chance of landing the first overall pick.

As things stand today, the Wings rank 26th overall. That came with a 7.6 percent chance of picking first last year.

The NHL changed its lottery format ahead of the 2016 draft to try to dissuade teams from tanking. Where the last-place team used to be guaranteed at least the second overall pick, that club can now fall as low as fourth. That exact nightmare struck the Avalanche last year, who watched three teams jump ahead of them despite finishing dead last in the standings.

Still, the lottery favors the frail. In the interest of securing the best pick possible in this summer’s draft, it behooves the Red Wings to lose, lose, lose down the stretch.

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