The NHL held its draft lottery on Monday night, and unlike
in the last few years, Montreal Canadiens fans weren’t glued to their TV to see
if their favourites struck gold. Thanks to their playoff qualification, the
Habs weren’t in the lottery this season and already knew they’d be drafting 17th
overall.
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However, they were indirectly in the lottery since they had
obtained the Calgary Flames’ pick when they traded for Sean Monahan before the 2022-23
season. The Alberta outfit had very slim chances of moving up in the draft, and
they didn’t, remaining in the 16th spot. This means the Canadiens
will have back-to-back picks at numbers 16 and 17.
Since the pick was top 10 protected, if the Flames had won
the lottery, they would have been allowed to send the Florida Panthers’ pick to
the Canadiens instead, but they weren’t that lucky. The New York Islanders had
lady luck on their side on Monday night; they moved from the 10th
place to the top spot. Former Canadiens’ netminder Patrick Roy’s team only had
a 3.5% chance of winning in the draw, making the feat even more remarkable.
As things stand, the Canadiens have 12 picks at the next
draft: the 16th and 17th overall selections in the first round, the 41st
(acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Mike Hoffman deal) and 49th
overall in the second round, the 79th, 81st, and 82nd overall selections in the
third round, the 108th and 113th overall in the fourth round, the 145th in the
fifth round, the 177th in the sixth round, and the 209th overall in
the seventh round.
Needless to say, Montreal has plenty of picks to use on the
trade market if the occasion arises. Kent Hughes has been known to pull deals
at or just before the draft, acquiring Kirby Dach at his first draft, trading
for Alex Newhook on the eve of his second, and trading picks to move up in his
third draft to land Michael Hage.
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