Montreal Canadiens: Three Teams That Are Going To Make It Difficult For Habs To Land Connor Bedard

The Montreal Canadiens enter the 2022-23 season as a team that is expected to finish near the bottom of the standings. They were able to accomplish that feat in 2021-22, and were rewarded with the first overall draft pick.

There is no guarantee that a team finishing 32nd overall will get the first overall choice. There is a lottery held each year for the top two picks, so team’s really can’t tank for the first pick and have a real hope of it working out.

But, the team that finishes last is guaranteed to drop no lower than third overall in the draft. Heading into a stacked 2023 NHL Draft, finishing last and ensuring a top three pick is going to work out quite well for someone in the long term.

Bob McKenzie, the semi-retired Godfather of hockey insiders released his preseason NHL Draft rankings yesterday, and the trio at the top is exciting. The Canadiens are not going to be good this season, so these draft eligible players will get a lot of attention in Montreal this season.

Connor Bedard is at the top of the list. He is the consensus best prospect available in the upcoming NHL Draft, and could be a future goal scoring phenom at the NHL level. He had 51 goals and 100 points in 62 WHL games last season.

Matvei Michkov is right up there in the rankings as well. The Russian winger is a supremely skilled player who can dart around the ice with the puck seemingly on a string. He is nearly impossible to knock the puck off and piles up offensive numbers.

Adam Fantilli may well drop to third overall but he could be a top pick in many draft years. He has the size, 6’2″ and skill, 74 points in 54 USHL games last season, to be a dominant presence at the NHL level soon.

There are more great players that will be available, but those three are the cream of the crop. Teams that struggle this season will be greatly rewarded if they come away with a top three pick.

The only way to guarantee one of those players, is to finish last and ensure drafting no later than third after the draft lottery. Can the Canadiens do that? These three teams will pose quite the competition for draft position next June.