Following last year’s infamous incident where Kevin Weekes accidentally revealed the Columbus Blue Jackets’ draft position, there was some concern Tuesday about another leak affecting this year’s lottery.
However, unlike last year’s mishap, disclosing the entire order beforehand wouldn’t just hurt viewership, it would raise serious doubts about the legitimacy of the lottery process itself.
That’s because the “leak” in question came from ESPN’s John Buccigross who tweeted — and then quickly deleted — an image that revealed a potentially leaked draft order for Tuesday’s lottery. The image, which was seemingly captured during a rehearsal before the 5:45 p.m. ET drawing displayed the entire selection order in the background.
Notably, it showed the San Jose Sharks landing the coveted first overall pick, with the newly relocated Utah franchise (formerly Arizona Coyotes) surprisingly securing the second slot.
While the tweet caused a stir, it was a misunderstanding rather than a leak. The photo captured the draft board during a rehearsal, meaning the order it showed is entirely random and has no bearing on the actual results.
Buccigross likely included the board unintentionally, sparking speculation that he and ESPN had predetermined, inside information. Unfortunately, even though he deleted the tweet, the internet and social media forget nothing – and those screenshots have spread across X (formerly Twitter) relatively quickly.
Doing his best to save face and perhaps limit the firestorm his deleted tweet created, Buccigross posted a new image — one not containing a draft lottery order in the background — and informed others that ESPN was merely rehearsing.
Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta clarified the situation surrounding Buccigross’s circulating photo. He assured fans that the official draft lottery draw wouldn’t happen until Tuesday evening, with the broadcast following at 6:30 PM ET. He also tried to dispel any concerns the photo might have caused about an early leak.
So, in wanting to avoid the mistakes of last year’s broadcast, it appears both the NHL and ESPN got this out of the way early. Though, if Tuesday night’s order is the exact same as the leaked photo, well, they may have some explaining to do.
[John Buccigross on X, For The Win]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.