Montreal Canadiens: Thanking the Toronto Maple Leafs For Helping Habs in Standings

The Montreal Canadiens started the season 0-5-0 by scoring four goals in five games and though it has technically gotten better since, it really doesn’t feel like anything has improved.

The Canadiens currently sit last in the Eastern Conference where they are not far behind the Ottawa Senators but they have played four more games than their division rival so they are pretty firmly holding onto last in their conference right now.

They are certainly going to miss the playoffs and have no chance of making a reasonable run at a playoff spot with their 7-24-4 record heading into last night’s game. So, the team should be really be hoping to stay at the bottom of the standings and finish with the best odds of landing that first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

That draft just to happens to be scheduled to take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal. After an awful season from the team on the ice, wouldn’t it be fantastic to have the new general manager step up to the podium and announce that the Canadiens have taken Shane Wright with the first overall pick in the draft?

They are well positioned to have a high pick, but it takes a little luck to end up with that elusive first overall selection. The team who finishes with the worst record has a 25.7% chance of picking first overall while the team that has the second worst record at the end of the season has a 12.1% chance of landing the first overall pick.

The NHL holds a lottery now for the top two picks, so the team that finishes in last place will end up with the third overall pick in a worst case scenario.

The Canadiens are doing everything they can to finish last, but they will need some help to stay below the Arizona Coyotes.

The Coyotes traded just about everyone who they had on their roster and was an above average NHL player. Still, somehow, the Canadiens fell behind them in the standings. Actually, it was with a little help from their oldest rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs headed into Arizona on Wednesday night fresh off beating the Vegas Golden Knights and going on a 3-0-1 run after a lengthy Covid break. The Maple Leafs are a top 5 team in the standings based off points percentage and the Coyotes record is, well it’s really close to the Canadiens record which says a lot.

Yet it was the Coyotes pulling off a stunning upset over the Leafs. Toronto was coming off four goal efforts against Stanley Cup hopefuls in Vegas and Colorado, but they were held to just one against the Coyotes as Karel Vejmelka stymied them, stopping 46 of 47 shots fired his way.

The win pushed the Coyotes all the way from 32nd to 31st in the league standings, and put the Canadiens in the driver’s seat for the first overall pick at the draft they will host in July.