Montreal Canadiens 5th Overall Pick History Part 6: Carey Price

The Montreal Canadiens are selecting 5th overall in the 2024 NHL draft, and not matter who they pick, the future is more than likely very bright. Generally, the 5th overall pick turns out to be a quality NHL player, and Habs fans are hoping David Reinbacher and this year's pick will continue that trend.

Montreal's first 5th overall pick was Pierre Bouchard, a physical defenseman and second generation Canadien who won multiple Cups with the club. Next was the reign of Ken Dryden, who blocked the crease for former 5th overall picks Phil Myre and Ray Martynuik. Myre went on to be a part of the longest unbeaten streak in North American sports history, and Martynuik threw his goalie equipment in a lake and never played an NHL game.

Then came Cam Connor, and the double draft of 1974. Connor was selected by the Canadiens of the NHL and the Phoenix Roadrunners of the WHA, and spent most of his career in the WHA, but playing one year with the Habs and winning the Cup there.

And then the Canadiens got their first ever Czech player in Petr Svoboda, who bravely defected to North America and was hid in a hotel room until draft day. He became the first Czech player to play 1,000 games and became the agent for Czech legend Jaromir Jagr.

It would be a long time for the Montreal Canadiens to pick 5th overall again. Over 20 years in fact. And in tradition with this series, the 2005 NHL draft was hardly normal.

The NHL lost the entire 2004-05 season due to the lockout, which actually bled into the off season and pushed the draft back, and the NHL lost the venue, the Ottawa Senators home arena, and it had to do privately in a hotel. Only the top 20 prospects were allowed due to a lack of room.

And since the NHL didn't play the whole season, they had to come up with a brand new lottery to determine who would get to draft Sidney Crosby. It might be the only year I can think that every single team had a chance to win the first overall pick.

The odds were determined by who had not made the playoffs, or selected first overall in the past 3 seasons. The Habs actually made it quite well by going 5th, as they were in the third group, with just a 2.1% chance of selecting 1st overall.

I'm not going to say that any player should have been picked above Price at 5th overall. The draft was pretty solid, but Sidney Crosby and Anze Kopitar stand head and shoulders above the rest of the skating competition. The only goalie that comes close to Price, is Johnathan Quick, but when its all said and done, I can't say I would take Quick over Price.