MONTREAL – For the past three years, the Canadiens have been going into the NHL Draft Lottery with the hopes of snagging the first-overall pick.
The annual event is set for Monday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m., but things look a little different this year for the Habs.
For context, the Canadiens won the lottery in 2022 and made forward Juraj Slafkovsky the No. 1 selection at the draft in Montreal that summer. Although Lady Luck didn’t grace the team with the top pick in 2023 or 2024, the Habs still clinched the fifth overall picks in both of those years, helping them nab defenseman David Reinbacher and forward Ivan Demidov, respectively, in those drafts.
Fast-forward to 2025: With Montreal competing in the postseason dance, the Club’s own first-round pick became ineligible for the draft lottery since only non-playoff teams can participate.
Enter the Calgary Flames.
The Western Conference squad, which barely missed the playoffs this year, had traded away their 2025 first-round pick to the Canadiens in the Sean Monahan deal in 2022… with some conditions.
Before we get into it, here are a few reminders about how the draft lottery works:
- There are two back-to-back draws, and the odds reset for the remaining teams heading into the second draw.
- Winning the lottery doesn’t necessarily mean obtaining the first-overall pick. Rather, any team that wins the lottery can move up 10 positions. Therefore, clubs ranked first to 11th are the only ones eligible for the top spot.
Let’s take a look at the odds all 16 teams hold to win the first of two draws:
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