The 2025 NHL Draft Lottery kicked off the playoffs' second round, as the league hosted a live show before Game 1 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers series. Montreal Canadiens fans won't be happy to watch the Leafs in the second round while they were sent home a round earlier, but all signs point to that being one of the last times it happens for the next few years. Who knows, maybe we'll soon get a Maple Leafs-Canadiens series.
The Canadiens' entry into the playoffs stops them from having one of their own picks in the draft lottery for the first time since 2021. However, they still own the first round pick of the Calgary Flames from the Sean Monahan trade. The Flames had the most points ever for a non-playoff team, but thanks to a hot streak from the St. Louis Blues, Calgary was on the outside looking in and the Flames' pick stayed in the lottery.
The Canadiens hope that they'll be picking 16th with the pick, as trade conditions from Calgary could leave Montreal with a much worse pick depending on if the Flames win the lottery. If Calgary had won the lottery, they'd move as high as sixth, which means they would've been able to hold the pick. According to a breakdown by Canadiens.com, that'd have been the worst-case scenario for the Canadiens.
"Going back to the Monahan trade, the Flames attached certain conditions to the first-rounder they included in the deal. Some of those terms include the following:
- If Calgary's pick becomes a top 10 pick because of the lottery, the Flames will transfer the Florida Panthers’ first-round pick (previously acquired by Calgary in the Jonathan Huberdeau-Matthew Tkachuk trade) to Montreal and draft sixth overall.
- If Calgary's pick is not a top 10 pick following the lottery, Calgary will transfer that pick to Montreal, meaning the Canadiens would draft 16th overall."
The Flames' failure to win the draft lottery has now given the Canadiens their pick at 16. Given that the Canadiens earned the 17th overall pick after their first-round elimination, they'll now pick back-to-back in the first round. It's a massive win for the Canadiens, as the Panthers' pick would've likely left them with one of the last choices in the first round. That is, of course, they don't use any of those picks in a trade or attempt to move up. With 12 picks in this year's draft, everything is on the table for Kent Hughes.
The New York Islanders surprisingly won the draft lottery to pick first overall, while the Utah Hockey Club climbed up to get the fourth overall pick.