Gene Principe

It's official: Edmonton is last in the NHL and that won't change after they mathematically eliminated themselves from moving up in the standings with a 5-4 loss to Detroit Tuesday night. It is the first season in the team’s history that they won't finish higher than any other club in the NHL.

What this means is the Oilers just put their meat hooks a little further into either top prospects Tyler Seguin or Taylor Hall. Who they choose will be debated for months, so let’s first look at how the draft lottery works for them.

Finishing 30th gives them a 48.2 per cent chance of getting the top pick, and a 51.8 per cent opportunity of selecting second. Edmonton can drop only one spot and, conversely, no team can move up any more than four positions.

Since the lottery came into play back in 1995, the worst team in the NHL has retained the first overall pick seven times: Ottawa in 1995 and 96; Boston in 1997; Tampa Bay in 1999 (the pick was later dealt to Atlanta); St.Louis in 2006; Tampa again in 2008; and last year the New York Islanders. In 1998 San Jose, the worst team in the league, also won the opportunity to choose first but Tampa had the right to swap picks from an earlier trade and they did, going from third to first in the draft.

April 13th is when the Oilers and other teams will find out the draft order after the lottery takes place at the NHL head offices New York City. This could be a dreadful time for Edmonton, but I think the excitement level will reach it's highest peak for this franchise since the 2006 playoff run. Since then, including this year, the team has missed the playoffs four consecutive years. This year they really missed, and I think that’s great.

Now I haven’t been feeling that way for months; more like days. Edmonton was mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after a loss to Toronto on March 13. That's when they knew there was hope to get the highest selection in the franchise’s history.

For now that honour goes to Jason Bust-signore, who Edmonton selected fourth overall in 1994. He proceeded to play a grand total of 21 games with the Oilers and scored just one goal, that in his first game. In fairness, he also had, uh, two assists in his career. What saved the Oilers from wishing that day never happened was the guy they chose two picks later -- Ryan Smyth.

You don't get to last overnight. Your season has to be a disaster, but now that it has happened it's time to clean up the mess. What better way to do it then getting the first overall pick in the 2010 draft. Imagine if Edmonton finished 22nd in the NHL this season. No playoffs – again -- no lottery, no hope, and no excitement. Oilers fans would be left feeling like they would be getting other teams’ leftovers. That’s not always bad (see 2008 draft and Jordan Eberle) but now if the ping pong balls play nice they get first choice and they get what they want.

We're still almost three months away from the draft in Los Angeles and the arrival of some pimple-faced, soon-to-be-teenage millionaires, but I can hardly wait. What better place, then in Hollywood, to write a script with a hopefully happy ending for the Edmonton Oilers.