Betting on the Habs: NHL Odds Breakdown

The Montreal Canadiens have two games left and got back to prime position for this spring’s NHL Draft Lottery.

The Canadiens’ victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday had vaulted them up to 27th place in the NHL standings with 68 points, giving them the sixth-best odds for this year’s NHL Draft Lottery.

However, after this weekend, the Canadiens now find themselves back in 28th place and currently own the fifth-best odds for the lottery with only two games left to play.

It will be a race to the finish at this point, as the Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers are all separated by just three points in the standings, while all having played 80 games at this point.

The Canadiens, who have the toughest schedule between the three clubs, play the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins, in a back-to-back setting no less, to finish out the year.

For the Islanders, their game against the Canadiens on Wednesday will be a must-win, meaning you can expect a desperate effort on their part against a decimated Canadiens.

On top of the game being on the road for the Canadiens, they’ll also be deprived of sparkplug Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who was demoted to the Laval Rocket to help them clinch a spot in the AHL Playoffs

The Canadiens will then travel home immediately to face the Boston Bruins, who will likely be resting many of their veterans for their playoff push after making history earlier this week.

That being said, the Bruins’ excellent depth and quality goaltending will be difficult for the Canadiens to overcome, as even a depleted Bruins club soundly defeated the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night by the score of 5-3.

The Coyotes also have a pretty difficult schedule upcoming, as they face the Seattle Kraken for the third time in two weeks, followed by the surging Vancouver Canucks.

The Flyers, however, have the easiest schedule by far, ending their schedule against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It’ll be a photo-finish between the Canadiens and the Coyotes yet again this season, but the NHL odds seem to be on the Canadiens’ side.

The Canadiens hold the tie-breaker at the moment with more wins in regulation, meaning that, if Montreal were to record even just one points in their next two games they would need Arizona to do the same in order to remain in 28th place.

It would seem likely to assume that, at the very worst, the Montreal Canadiens will walk out of this season with the sixth-best odds for the NHL Draft Lottery, with the potential of being in the top five of a very coveted 2023 NHL Draft come June.