The Montreal Canadiens are not going to in the 2022 playoffs and are likely to finish near the bottom of the standings this season.
It is still kinda early in the year, but a top ten pick is all but guaranteed already and a top five pick appears likely. No one can be assured of a top pick, because that is literally chosen via a lottery. In fact, the top two picks are chosen via lottery meaning if the Canadiens finish last in the standings, that just means they are guaranteed a pick somewhere in the top three.
The big prize in this year’s NHL Draft is Shane Wright, and he is going to be a star in the NHL very soon. But tanking to try and land one specific player makes no sense in the NHL anymore. This ain’t 1984 when finishing last gave you the right to choose Mario Lemieux no questions asked.
The lottery system in place now gives the worst team in the league about a 25% chance of actually keeping the first overall pick. So, hoping the Habs lose a lot this season so they get Shane Wright is not a smart plan. There is just no way of putting yourself in a good position to win the first overall draft pick in the current lottery system.
Luckily for the Canadiens, there are many other terrific prospects in this year’s NHL Draft. We will see a handful of them on the World Junior stage in the coming weeks, but there are many more around the world that would be terrific additions to the Canadiens organization.
Maybe tanking for Wright is a fool’s errand, but finishing low to grab one of these three players would pay off huge dividends in the long run.