Lottery Pick Update: February 17, 2011

It's been over three weeks since the last Lottery Pick Update, and while the teams in lottery pick position haven't changed, the order has. On January 24, the Ottawa Senators were sitting 27th in the NHL with a 10.7% chance of getting the 1st-overall pick. Today, the Senators are 29th and have an 18.8% chance of getting that first pick.

Here's how the standings shake down today:

30th	Edmonton Oilers - 17-32-8 (42p), .368
	The Edmonton Oilers faced off against the Ottawa Senators last Saturday in the battle between the worst teams in the National Hockey League. Had they won, the Oilers would have had an identical record to the Senators (though still in last place by virtue of actually having shootout wins). Unfortunately, the Oilers couldn't hold off the burgeoning superstardom of one Bobby Butler. It's also helped that goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was on a 13-game regulation losing streak. That streak hit 14 games before Khabibulin finally won against Dallas on Tuesday night.
29th	Ottawa Senators - 18-30-9 (45p), .395
	How bad are the Senators right now? On January 24th, when the first Lottery Pick Update was published, they had a 17-25-7 record and were already in a 1-8-3 tailspin since Boxing Day. Since January 24th, they've gone 1-5-2. That's a 20-game run with a 2-13-5 record - 9 of a possible 40 points (.225). At that rate, the Senators would have 8 wins in an 84-game season. The inaugural 1992-93 Senators had 10 wins.
28th	New York Islanders - 21-29-7 (49p), .430
	Since the last update, the Islanders have gone 6-4-0. They're on a 4-game win streak where they've scored 24 goals. After playing 38:06 on February 13, the newly-acquired Al Montoya became the sixth Islanders goaltender to suit up - two more than any other team. Oh, and Michael Grabner set a new team record for most consecutive games with a goal by a rookie (6 games, 10 goals), and has 16 goals in the 15 games since January 15. He also has 5 assists, but those don't matter.
27th	New Jersey Devils - 23-30-4 (50p), .439
	The Devils are 11-1-1 in their last 13 games (23 of 26 possible points, .885). Ilya Kovalchuk is on an 8-game point streak, and although he is +7 during that stretch, he's still -22 on the season (good for 833rd-overall). While making the playoffs is the definition of a stretch, the Devils are sure making it interesting.
26th	Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins - 25-27-6 (56p), .483
	Surprise rookie goaltender James Reimer has gone 8-4-1 with a 2.39 GAA and .928 save percentage since making his first start on January 1. The Leafs have been putting up more wins than not lately, and it may be enough to pull them out of the lottery pick position if either or both of Colorado and Florida fall any further. The only thing keeping Colorado and Toronto from having identical records after Wednesday night is that the Avalanche held on until overtime to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins.