The Montreal Canadiens have been off to an awful start to the season with not a single real glimmer of hope. What options would the team have with a high 2022 draft pick?
One could not write up a worse start to the season for the 2021-22 Montreal Canadiens. Losing 5-1 and 5-0 to two of the projected worst teams in the league, an 0-4 record and only 3 goals scored is a stark contrast to the glories of June. This team has lost its leader and captain, its franchise goaltender, its Selke-contending top-6 centre, its centre of the future, and as a result, its identity.
While Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are certain to entertain at some point this year, it’s impossible not to think of the loaded 2022 draft class as a Habs fan. This team is bound to improve, if only by regressing to the mean in shooting percentage, as they currently stand at 2.59% in all situations, by far the worst in the league; last year they were below average but still maintained a 9.05%. Call this piece reactionary and driven by recency bias if you wish, but the team’s defensive structure is chaotic, the coaching has been weak at best, chemistry is nonexistent, and special teams have been disastrous.
With this negativity in mind, let us brighten our moods by taking a little peek at five players that are likely to be selected in the top-10 of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. While the Habs did trade a first-round pick to Arizona in the Dvorak trade, it will be the worse of the Habs’ and Hurricanes’ picks if one or both of them are in the top 10 (which certainly seems plausible, if not likely, at this point in time).