The goal for the Montreal Canadiens should be on the NHL Draft Lottery, and with the updated odds, the chances of coming away with a victory have increased.
If you’re a Montreal Canadiens fan, I can bet what you’ve spent most of your time doing besides tuning into the games (assuming that’s still something you do). No, it’s not just tracking the progress of the prospects, which has been a fun little activity as of late. It helps that a lot of them are on the team already, but the youth in other leagues have got fans talking as well. The number one topic that light’s the eyes of any Montreal Canadiens supporter is the draft lottery.
It’s funny to put so much stock in something that isn’t a guarantee. However, a victory after watching the balls fall your way can do wonders for your organization. Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, all first overall picks, all obtained because a team won the draft lottery. With Rasmus Dahlin at the topic and the generation talent that oozes out of his pores will improve any team’s backend for the next 20 years.
The importance of this lottery couple with the state of the Habs season has put team supporters in a bit of a tailspin. It’s tough to watch the Montreal Canadiens lose, especially on those nights where they’re giving it everything they’ve got. On the other hand, an L and 0 points push them deeper into the bottom of the NHL.
Montreal, for the longest time, was sitting at a 7.5% chance of a draft lottery victory but recent league news may help them come April. Pierre Lebrun revealed on Twitter yesterday that the NHLPA agreed to update the offs for this upcoming lottery.
The NHLPA signed off today on the new draft lottery percentages/odds that the NHL submitted to them for approval.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 23, 2018
No one had a clue of what the update would include until Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed the new percentages approved by the NHLPA.
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The team in last place has an even better chance to win jumping up from 18% last year. The second and third odds got a boost as well increasing from the 2017 percentages of 12.1% and 10.3% respectively. Vegas and the Expansion Draft were responsible for the decreased percentages last season as they were automatically given the third-best odds to win it (looking at their season now, imagine if they did).
It’s now going to be similar to what they were in 2016 for the Matthews draft of course with not as high as a chance to draft first (previously 20%).
The Montreal Canadiens win, be it great for the atmosphere in the room (even if it was against the Buffalo Sabres), hurt operation tank. Granted the opportunity is still there for a New Jersey Devils-type of a situation to occur. We’ll just have to wait to see where the Habs end up come April 7th then watch how the lottery balls fall.
Next: Pointing A Finger At the Season
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