The Blackhawks could be part of the NHL draft lottery for a third straight year.
The Blackhawks are one of 16 teams that will be featured in the “qualifying round,” which was part of the league’s 24-team return-to-play format. Chicago will be the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference and face the No. 5 seed Oilers in a best-of-five series.
The loser of the series will join the other eliminated teams and the seven non-playoff teams in the draft lottery.
The winner of each play-in series will advance to play a series against one of the top seeds from their respective conference.