The NHL draft lottery will be held tonight and will be broadcast live on Versus at 7:00p CDT. Currently the Stars have the 8th pick in the draft and a 3.7% chance of winning the lottery. For those of you who aren't familiar with the NHL lottery, here are the main points:

• If a team wins the lottery, they can only move up four spots. So only the top five spots have a chance at winning the number one overall pick.
• If the Stars win they could move as high as 4th, or drop back to 9th if the teams below them win.
• Only the bottom 14 teams in the league are eligible for the draft lottery.

Follow the jump for a few mock drafts, as well as a press release from Tom Hicks.

No matter where the Stars end up in this draft, they will be in great shape to fill a hole in one of two big-need areas: scoring winger or center; big, puck moving defenseman. Obviously, nabbing the fourth spot will make things much easier for the Stars, but a 8th pick would give them plenty of very viable options for players who could be ready for the NHL in just a year.

There are several mock drafts out there right now, here are a few of the current picks for the Stars:

NHL.com:

8

Dallas Stars

Brayden Schenn, Center, Brandon (WHL)

MyNHLDraft.com

8 Jared Cowen Drafted From:Spokane (WHL) Position:LD

We'll keep you updated tonight on where the Stars final pick lands after the lottery drawing.

There was some more news out today surround Tom Hicks' company and its (planned) failure to pay $10 million in interest on $525 million in various loans, leading creditors to file default paperwork on the loans.

There was a story in the Wall Street Journal that had a fairly alarming statement in it, stating that Hicks could lose control of the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers due to these defaults.

Evan Grant of Inside Corner has posted an official statement from Hicks that was sent to the press, stating that there really isn't much to worry about:

“You may have read yet another news story about the current situation involving HSG’s efforts to renegotiate their loans. This time the story appeared in the Wall Street Journal. There is nothing new in this story. As has been previously reported, HSG missed its most recent quarterly interest payment. As a result of that payment default, HSG’s lenders have now sent the expected and normal default notices to HSG. But nothing has changed at the baseball and hockey clubs while the negotiations continue at the HSG level. Both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have strong protections for their franchises when discussions such as these are underway. These are complex negotiations and there are some very smart people working on them. As an owner and lender to HSG, I am working to negotiate something that will make economic sense going forward for me, HSG and its lenders. The current situation simply does not make economic sense. As these negotiations progress I will keep you posted.”