Montreal Canadiens Maintain Surprising NHL Draft Pick Value

The 2025 NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for Friday, June 27, giving the Montreal Canadiens a little over a week to establish the best game plan for the hectic weekend.

There are relatively healthy odds the Canadiens may engage in a trade discussion that involves one or both of their first-round selections, but in the meantime we can discuss the pre-draft value of their picks.

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Montreal Canadiens Pre-Draft Pick Value

Before we get going, it’s important to remember that pre-draft value is determined via a draft-pick value chart, and as per usual, we’ll turn to one of the godfathers of hockey data analysis, Michael Schucker.

Schuckers’ draft-pick value chart essentially assigns a value to every pick based on previous drafts.

For example, the first overall pick is given a value of 917, whereas the 32nd overall pick is just 246, demonstrating the significant discrepancy in value for first-round picks. To help visualize the situation, think of it as a reverse Richter magnitude scale, with the value quickly dropping once we’re midway through the first round.

We also have to remember that the overall value is thrown out the window once a player is chosen, putting pressure on scouts to make the right selection.

With that in mind, seeing as the Montreal Canadiens possess two first-round picks, not to mention a pair of second-round picks and a trio of third-round picks, their pre-draft pick value heading into the 2025 NHL Entry Draft is the second highest since 2012, and comes close to rivalling the pre-draft pick value from 2022, when they owned the first overall pick.

Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks

Even though the numbers suggest 2025 could be one of the best drafts in recent team history, we have to acknowledge the Habs own a high quantity of draft picks, but lack the overall quality of the previous three years when they drafted 1st (Juraj Slafkovsky, 2022), 5th (David Reinbacher, 2023), and 5th overall (Ivan Demidov, 2024).

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Most general managers would rather fewer picks with higher value, but the Canadiens have reached a point where they won’t be in the running for top-five picks anymore, and if we’re being perfectly honest, the fact that they picked in the top-five in three consecutive seasons connotes the NHL’s Draft Lottery has been kind to the rebuild.

Additionally, maintaining a strong pre-draft value is very difficult for any team that qualifies for the playoffs, which should mitigate some of the concern regarding the loss of high-value picks.

Montreal Canadiens pre-draft pick value via Michael Schuckers.