The NHL has announced the Draft Lottery will take place on May 5, and though the Canadiens are currently enjoying playoff hockey, they still have a part to play in the upcoming lottery.
Montreal Canadiens 2025 Draft Discussion
The reason Montreal is still involved is due to the trade that saw Sean Monahan join the Canadiens via the Calgary Flames. There are a lot of moving parts in the trade details, but we can now simplify the situation to a certain extent.
The Canadiens will probably own the Flames’ first-round pick in 2025, which is currently set for 16th overall. However, the pick is top-10 protected, which means the Canadiens will have to return it to Calgary should they win the lottery. In that case, the Canadiens would then receive the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick, which is yet to be set.
The odds they’d drop from 16 to the 30 range are rather low, just 0.5 percent, but stranger things have happened.
Projecting The Picks
If we assume the Canadiens will draft 16th overall, we can get a better idea of the quality of picks Kent Hughes and his scouting staff will have to work with come May 5.
In addition to picking 16th overall, the Canadiens still own their original first-round pick, which will be somewhere between 17th and 32nd. Realistically, it will be much closer to 17th than 32nd.
They also own two second-round picks, as well as two third-round picks, which means they will have an opportunity to find some talent in the upcoming draft, an important factor when we consider they aren’t quite done rebuilding.
It won’t be as easy as previous years due to their draft positions, but good teams find talent regardless of the situation.
For example, every team that had a pick in the first two rounds of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft passed on phenom Lane Hutson, including the Canadiens, before he was finally picked late in the second round. Those opportunities are rare, but they still exist.
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We’ll discuss the prospects who will potentially be available in Montreal’s ranger once the playoffs are over, but all things considered, having a healthy stock of upcoming picks while also enjoying playoff hockey is a very encouraging situation for an organization that’s clearly on the rise.