After months of knowing that the Montreal Canadiens would be a lottery team, the day is finally here to find out who gets the top prize.
There was a point in the regular season where the Montreal Canadiens could push for a playoff spot. Unfortunately, extended losing streaks, poor play and shaky goaltending got and kept them in the bottom ten of the NHL. The reality slowly started to creep in for many who follow the team, and we all shared the same belief: the Montreal Canadiens were going to be a lottery team.
Ironically, they couldn’t have picked a better time for this to happen. Rasmus Dahlin was the clear-cut first overall selection dating back to last season. He may not be the marque number one centre that the Montreal Canadiens need, but he will be a force to reckon with on any team’s blueline for the next 20 years.
The long-awaited event is set to happen tonight; the NHL Draft Lottery is here. Montreal is in a decent position to win, relatively-speaking, with 9.5% chance at selecting first. The format of the Draft Lottery doesn’t work so much in their favour though as there is a greater chance of the Habs falling to fifth, sixth, or seventh, then staying at fourth (assuming they don’t win).
That fact alone has swayed some of the optimism from the fanbase ahead of the lottery.
What are your predictions for the Draft Lottery tomorrow? #Habs
— A Winning Habit (@FSAWinningHabit) April 27, 2018
Pretty spread out, wouldn’t you say?
But the old saying goes, ‘with no expectations, come no disappointments.’ Make sure to keep track of the A Winning Habit Twitter account as I’ll be trying to shake the nerves and add some humour to whatever happens.
Grab anything that’s ever given you luck be it a pen, sweater, or those handy socks you wore on the day you won that contest. If the balls fall Montreal’s way, then the bounce-back season will be a lot easier for Marc Bergevin to make a reality. That could still be a possibility even if Dahlin isn’t in the picture, but adding generational talent is clearly the better scenario.
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