The draft lottery introduced in the previous year was continued with the same modalities. The Ottawa Senators won this as the weakest team of the past 1995/96 season , so no change in the order came about. This corresponded to the reversed final table of the previous season, but it was only the turn of all teams that had missed the playoffs. This was followed by all playoff teams, also according to their score and not influenced by the success in the post-season .
The Blues had to give up their first-round voting rights in the 1996 and 1997 drafts as compensation for the commitment of free agent Shayne Corson to the Oilers.
The Maple Leafs sent their first-round suffrage, a second-round suffrage in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and a four-round suffrage in this draft to Philadelphia and received Dmitri Yushkevich and a second-round suffrage in this draft.
The Flyers sent the rights to Martin Špaňhel , their first-round suffrage and a fourth-round suffrage in this draft to San Jose and received Pat Falloon .
The Sharks sent Václav Varaďa , the rights to Martin Špaňhel , the first-round suffrage of the Flyers and a four-round suffrage in this draft to Buffalo and received Douglas Bodger .
Except for Zdeno Chára , all players of this year have ended their NHL careers, so that the 1996 draft is the oldest with an active NHL professional. The tables show the five best players in the categories of games, goals, assists and scorer points as well as the three goalkeepers with the most wins in the NHL. Chára's stats are correct at the end of the 2018/19 season, so he has already surpassed Cullen in terms of games played. In addition, 99 of the 241 selected players (approx. 41%) have played at least one NHL game.
Abbreviations: Sp = games, T = goals, V = assists , Pkt = scorer points , S = wins; Fat: best value
Chris Phillips 
Andrei Sjusin 
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