A year after a trip to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, the Montreal Canadiens won the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery, giving them the first overall pick. It should make for a festive 2022 NHL Draft atmosphere, as the event takes place on July 7 and 8 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
While the New Jersey Devils “settled” for the second pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, this continues their run of lottery luck. They went from the fifth-best odds (8.5%) to the second overall pick.
Both the Canadiens and Devils get great chances to boost their futures after painful 2021-22 seasons.
Time will tell if the Canadiens pick Shane Wright first overall. We could also see a team like, say, the Flyers trade a high first-rounder to try to make a more immediate splash.
The Devils discussed possibly trading their first-rounder, as well, but does that change now that they’re at No. 2 overall? That will hinge on how they view the draft class. Also note that we received closure on the conditions for picks involved in the Jack Eichel and Seth Jones trades.
Canadiens win 2022 NHL Draft Lottery and first pick; Devils jump to No. 2 overall
Here are the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery results:
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Arizona Coyotes
4. Seattle Kraken
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Chicago Blackhawks)
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Detroit Red Wings
9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Anaheim Ducks
11. San Jose Sharks
12. Columbus Blue Jackets
13. New York Islanders
14. Winnipeg Jets
15. Vancouver Canucks
16. Buffalo Sabres (from the Vegas Golden Knights)
More on the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery, and some top prospects
Here were the original odds for the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery
Montreal Canadiens 18.5%
Arizona Coyotes 13.5%
Seattle Kraken 11.5%
Philadelphia Flyers 9.5%
New Jersey Devils 8.5%
*Chicago Blackhawks 7.5%
Ottawa Senators 6.5%
Detroit Red Wings 6.0%
Buffalo Sabres 5.0%
Anaheim Ducks 3.5%
San Jose Sharks 3.0%
Columbus Blue Jackets 2.5%
New York Islanders 2.0%
Winnipeg Jets 1.5%
Vancouver Canucks 0.5%
**Vegas Golden Knights 0.5%
Two notes on those Blackhawks and Golden Knights first-round picks:
* Under the terms of a July 23, 2021 trade, Chicago will transfer its 1st-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to Columbus if it is not a top 2 pick. If it becomes a top 2 pick as a result of the Draft Lottery, Chicago will retain the pick and instead transfer to Columbus its 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
** Under the terms of a Nov. 4, 2021 trade, Vegas will transfer its 1st-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to Buffalo if it is not a top 10 pick. If it becomes a top 10 pick as a result of the Draft Lottery, Vegas will retain the pick and instead transfer to Buffalo its 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, but there are plenty of other top prospects who could be impact players. Matthew Savoie, Logan Cooley, Brad Lambert, Šimon Nemec, Seamus Casey, David Jiříček, and Olympic breakout star Juraj Slafkovský could all hear their names called early on.
Will Scouch of McKeen’s Hockey gave us his top 32 prospects for the 2022 NHL Draft back in December. We’ll have an update and a mock draft as we get closer to draft day.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.