This year’s NHL Draft Lottery is the furthest thing from the minds of Bruins fans as their team gears up to face the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Boston has firsthand knowledge of how important a good pick can be to a team looking to find the final piece of a hockey puzzle.

Thanks to a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw the departure of Phil Kessel, General Manager Brian Burke, will forever kick himself for giving Claude Julien’s team the second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, which became Tyler Seguin.

Seguin contributed 22 points during the 2010-2011 season and added seven more in the playoffs, which ended with the 20-year-old Brampton, Ontario native hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup over his head.

While the Bruins, led in scoring by Seguin’s 67 points, will not be the focus of tonight’s lottery, five teams are crossing their fingers, hoping to win the right to draft first overall.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, and Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished in the bottom five spots in the league, are likely to draw in that order, but with a little luck, teams can win a higher draft pick.

Statistically, the percent of winning is 25.0, 18.8, 14.2, 10.7 and 8.1 respectively, but excitement is generated for the same reason people go crazy over the Mega Millions lottery — anything is possible.

In 2000, the New York Islanders moved from fifth to first place to draft goalie Rick DiPietro and in recent years, the Chicago Blackhawks accomplished the same feat, selecting forward Patrick Kane in 2007.

The biggest prize of the night is Russian prodigy, Sarnia Sting forward Nail Yakupov. Officially named the top prospect by NHL Central Scouting yesterday, the speedy winger who scored 69 points in 42 games for the Sting this season is being likened to former NHL legend, the “Russian Rocket,” Pavel Bure.

With highly touted players, center Mikhail Grigorenko, defenseman Morgan Rielly and many others up for grabs, there will be more winners than just the team that lands Yakupov.

Five teams are in it to win it, but only one will win the favor of the hockey gods.

Tonight’s lottery will be televised on NBC Sports Network at 8 p.m., ET.

Peter Cappiello can be reached at [email protected].