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Canadiens win No. 1 pick for sixth time in their history

The Montreal Canadiens won the 2022 NHL Entry Draft Lottery and finished first overall; The New Jersey Devils moved up to number one. The winners continue their lucky streak in the lottery with the New Jersey Devils “satisfied” with the second pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. This will be New Jersey’s fourth top-five pick in the draft since 2017. In addition towards the Stanley Cup playoffs, all three CHL leagues are still in postseason action. These last games of the season give athletes one last chance to make a lasting impression on scouts before the draught in July.

As Montreal hosted its first individual draft since 2019, the Canadiens’ hometown won the lottery and the right to take first place overall. The Montreal Canadiens will have the opportunity to choose the NHL’s most popular prospect this year after winning the 2022 lottery. The 2022 NHL Entry Draft will occur this year in Montreal, where the Montreal Canadiens will now be first in all seven rounds. The 2022 draft will take place at the Bell Center in Montreal. The Montreal Canadiens are now poised to become the first team to enter the next draft at their home arena.

The Montreal Canadiens are guaranteed the top three picks in the NHL Draft Lottery, and that pick should provide them with elite young talent when it arrives on July 7th. Every first pick in the club’s history came during the Montreal draft. In the NHL Draft, the number of spots a team can increase if they win the annual lottery is limited to 10 picks. Teams can only move up ten picks if they win one of the two lotteries draws. The NHL announced this change on March 23, 2021. Starting this season, no team will be able to get into the results table by winning the lottery more than twice in a five year period.

Suppose the overall first pick is in the top 10 after the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery. In that case, Vegas will retain that pick and instead pass their first-round selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft to Buffalo, and the Vegas Golden Knights will give their first-round choice, but Buffalo will get the first round of Las Vegas in the 2023 draft. Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs is likely to become the first overall choice, although there are plenty of additional quality talents who might make an impact. Early on, Matthew Savoie, Logan Cooley, Brad Lambert, Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey, David Jiek, and Olympic breakthrough hero Juraj Slafkovsk might all hear their own names called.