High Draft Pick
The biggest bonus to a losing season is an early pick in the NHL Draft.
The Canadiens currently have the second best chance of winning the first overall pick, but it is really a long shot for any individual team to win. Even if the Habs finish with the worst record in hockey, they only have a 25.7% chance of winning the first overall pick. They would have a 55.7% chance of dropping to third overall.
Still, they are going to get a really early pick. If they finish with the third worst record in the league, they are guaranteed to pick in the top five. I know that hasn’t resulted in immediate success for the Habs recently as Alex Galchenyuk and Jesperi Kotkaniemi did not develop into impact players for the team.
But there is a new regime scouting and drafting and most top teams started at the bottom with great early draft picks.
The Canadiens are in a tough division with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Florida Panthers looking like they could be dominant teams for a few more seasons.
The Lightning selected franchise cornerstones Steven Stamkos first overall and Victor Hedman second overall while Jonathan Drouin was taken third overall and traded for a great two-way defender in Mikhail Sergachev.
The Maple Leafs are lead by Auston Matthews who was a first overall pick and Mitch Marner who was taken fourth overall. Morgan Rielly is their best defenceman and he was picked fifth overall by the team.
The Panthers have first overall pick Aaron Ekblad as their top defenceman, second overall selection Alexander Barkov as their elite two-way centre and third overall pick Jonathan Huberdeau leading the team in scoring with over 100 points already.
There is no guarantee that picking early will lead to success, but a quick look at the scoring leaderboard will show you most of the top players come from the top five picks in the draft. It isn’t a sure thing, but it is a nice consolation prize at the end of a long season.