Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens Officially Secure 5th-Best Odds In NHL Draft Lottery

Published

2 months ago

April 13, 2023

With the 2022-2023 season now in the books for the Montreal Canadiens, they’ve officially secured the fifth-best odds for the NHL Draft Lottery.

It came down to the wire for the Habs, as they were closely followed by the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL standings for the better part of two weeks.

Prior to tonight’s game, the Canadiens held down 28th place with 68 points, while Arizona seemed to be deadlocked at 69 points.

With the against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night the Canadiens maintained 28th place and will thus have the fifth-best odds on May 8 when the league hosts the NHL Draft Lottery.

It means that the Canadiens now have the following potential outcomes for the Lottery:

8.5% chance of picking first overall,
8.8% chance of picking second overall
24.5% chance of picking fifth overall
44.9% chance of picking sixth overall
13.9% chance of picking seventh overall

The Canadiens securing such a high pick in a highly praised draft class is exactly what the doctor ordered for the rebuilding Montreal Canadiens, as they look to add some young, elite talent to their roster.

It’s precisely in the range that general manager Kent Hughes admitted early on this season that he expected the Canadiens to finish in; as he expected his club to struggle again this season.

For the Montreal Canadiens’ struggles this season, they’ll have the luxury of picking some pretty impressive talent early on in the 2023 NHL Draft.

The likes of Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov, Will Smith and Zach Benson could be intriguing adds for a Canadiens team that is starved for offence.

After selecting Juraj Slafkovsky first overall last season, the Canadiens will be picking in the top 10 for a second consecutive season; something they haven’t done since the 1980 and 1981 NHL Drafts.

Whoever the Canadiens decide to select with the pick will become another major pillar in the club’s efforts to become a Stanley Cup contender in the not-so-distant future.

Now all we can do is wait for May 8 and see if the Montreal Canadiens get lucky two years in a row.

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Tyrone

1 month ago

First star of the game goes to Edmundson for taking the fighting major and putting us down to 4 Dmen for the remainder of the game. That helped Boston by having Wideman on the ice more and missing his check in Pastrnak, allowing him to pot the game winner. Fifth overall pick secured. 😅

morrisk

Reply to Tyrone

1 month ago

Funny, but likely true!

morrisk

1 month ago

Yes, the Habs are “starved for offense”, but I wouldn’t say that above all else at any cost. Injuries are the main reason why the Habs did poorly this season – not a complete lack of top end talent on offense. Keep in mind that only Bedard and Benson are truly available next season as rostered players…two others are returning to college, and the Russian has “passport issues”.

Why “blow” your top pick on a center when PLD is lurking and could be had this coming season? I suggest taking Benson or Sale as a winger, figuring out a way to get Rinebacher as the top Right Dman in this draft, then offer-sheeting PLD, which Winny probably doesn’t match, and bingo – you get all three. Any we need all three. We get all three and next season will be the turn around with playoffs likely (assuming the injury bug is gone!).

John Spearing

Reply to morrisk

1 month ago

IF we want PLD, we wait until the summer of 24 and get him as a FA…
as for the draft – BPA and that won’t be Sale and shouldn’t be Benson either… the top 5 is clear and if we can land any of Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson, Michkov, or Smith – we will be jumping for joy…
Furthermore, we aren’t drafting in the hope they play next season, we are drafting the best future piece for our rebuild…
When it comes to center, Dach is no lock at center with his lack of faceoff skills and the “top” centers have pretty much all had time on the wing – you don’t avoid the best player because he’s a center…
PS – I expect Reinbacher to go top 10 and if we have poor lottery luck, I don’t mind taking him at 6 or 7 if we miss on those top 5 – I’d easily take Reinbacher over Sale every time, and unless it’s Michkov I rather not draft another undersized winger.

Tom

1 month ago

Dubois is a good player but at less than a point a game, he’s hardly a game changing player. I would not give up a first round pick for him. Offer sheet? Complicated process that could end in giving up even more. If Dubois wants to play here, he can sign as a free agent although I’ll believe it when I see it.

John Spearing

Reply to Tom

1 month ago

agree 100%
IF PLD wants to be a Hab, the summer of 24 fits better with our rebuild anyway and we certainly shouldn’t be giving any assets up for him just to get him before that…
I’d rather have any of the top centers in this draft over PLD for our future to begin with, so adding a PLD does not mean we should avoid the best players because they play center to reach for a lesser winger – that’s the most insane plan I’ve ever seen suggested…. Morris clearly didn’t think it through or he over values some wingers or he undervalues the top 5 in this stacked class – maybe all 3 😉