Canadiens Tank Tracker: Habs Clinch Top-10 Pick In NHL Draft

The Montreal Canadiens still have a few games left to play this season, but they can already bank on picking quite early at the 2023 NHL Draft.

Although the Canadiens didn’t play a game on Sunday night, the outcome of a few games has all but guaranteed that they cannot finish higher than 25th place in the NHL standings.

Thanks to an impressive win from the Detroit Red Wings over the Toronto Maple Leafs, and an overtime loss by the St. Louis Blues, both teams are now out of reach of the Monreal Canadiens with 77 points on the season.

The Washington Capitals, Red Wings and Blues all have 77 points on the season, while the Canadiens have 66 points with five games left to play.

Even if the Canadiens were to win every single game they had left on their schedule, which is unlikely, they would have 76 points at the most.

Thus, the Montreal Canadiens will have, at worst, the eight-best odds in the NHL Draft Lottery as of today.

Should the Habs face some bad luck in the lottery and have two teams leapfrog them on May 8th, they will pick no higher than 10th overall at the 2023 NHL Draft.

Should the Canadiens lose just one game in their final five outings, they will be assured of a bottom-seven finish, as they’ll be out of range of the 25th-place Vancouver Canucks.

It all seems likely that Montreal and the Arizona Coyotes will duke it out for the 28th place and fifth-best odds in the Draft Lottery.

The next remaining games will be quite interesting for that outcome.

A Glimmer Of Hope

The Florida Panthers were in a playoff spot as of Saturday night, but the Pittsburgh Penguins finally showed some life on Sunday, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers by the score of 4-2.

With the win, the Penguins jumped back into the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, now having the same amount of games played as the Panthers.

Unfortunately, it’s now the New York Islanders that have picked the best possible time to start a losing streak; dropping their last two games, including a nail-bitter against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

But there is another.

The Buffalo Sabres, who square off against the Panthers on Tuesday night, could not only put a major dent in the Panthers’ playoff hopes, but also keep their own alive with a victory against the Cats.

The Sabres have 81 points in just 75 games, meaning they have two games in hand on the Panthers and the Penguins and still control their destiny.

The race to the finish line, if we can even call it a race, will be extremely interesting for Canadiens fans hoping to have two lottery picks on May 8 when the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery determines the fate of the 2023 NHL Draft.