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
- 20.5% 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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