Beginning this season, the full effect of the changes to the draft lottery rules announced last year are in place. Starting this year, teams can only move up a maximum of 10 spots if they’re selected, meaning teams originally set at picks 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 cannot move up all the way to the first overall pick. A win for one of these teams in the first draft lottery secures the pick for the team that finished last.
The team with the best odds coming in will win the draft lottery for the second straight year, though. The Montreal Canadiens will pick first overall in their own building, the first time such an occurrence has happened since 1985 when the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Wendel Clark at Maple Leaf Gardens. The New Jersey Devils moved up from fifth overall to second overall, bumping down the Arizona Coyotes, Seattle Kraken, and Philadelphia Flyers down one spot each.
The order for the top 16 picks of the 2022 NHL Draft is as follows:
- Montreal Canadiens
- New Jersey Devils
- Arizona Coyotes
- Seattle Kraken
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Columbus Blue Jackets (via Chicago Blackhawks)
- Ottawa Senators
- Detroit Red Wings
- Buffalo Sabres
- Anaheim Ducks
- San Jose Sharks
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New York Islanders
- Winnipeg Jets
- Vancouver Canucks
- Buffalo Sabres (via Vegas Golden Knights)
While Shane Wright is still the consensus no. 1 overall selection across public draft boards (and NHL Central Scouting), there’s been recent noise about players like Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley potentially challenging him for first overall. That’s an upset unlikely to happen, though, as Wright had a terrific second half of the 2021-22 campaign, finishing with 32 goals, 62 assists, and 94 points in 63 games with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. He also has 10 points in eight playoff games at the time of writing. While teams will draft him for his elite playmaking ability, he’s got an underrated shot when he chooses to use it as well. Standout Slovak defenseman Simon Nemec, Czech defenseman David Jiricek, Canadian forward Matthew Savoie, and Finnish forward Joakim Kemell are also names to watch for near the top of the draft board.
What blackmail do the Devils have on Bettman?
thinking the same thing. thought the 5 year rule would prevent it from happening but apparently that starts after this draft
Tasteful nudes
Bettman weighted up the ping pong ball for his benefit
@SpeakOfTheDevil – Of Bettman??? Bite your forked tongue!
Bettman & Daly
Velvet Constanza.
@SpeakOfTheDevil – And, neither of which looks good in a mask and tights… :(
Who needs those things when you have a roaring fire and a bearskin rug
@padam – It’s a good thing you didn’t Photoshop that as an avatar.
This is total Betman BS. Of course when the Montreal Canadians finish with the worst record they win the # 1 pick. But when the Detroit Red Wings finished with the worst record 2 years ago they got dropped down to 4th or 6th. Thank you Gary Betman and the NHL for screwing the Red Wings again and go “F” yourselves as you guys suck!!!!
Yes but you know that it doesn’t really matter where you pick, it’s who you pick. Many teams screw up top 10 selections. There’s also guys picked between 10 and 20 who are studs.
No worries it really comes down to the scouting Department. They do the right job and it doesn’t matter where you pick.
Wait so you complaining that you didnt get to draft alexis lafreniere and had to settle for lucas raymond?? Which lucas has been the better player of the two??? Or in 2019 you drafted seider who is proving to be the better player of that draft…
And some teams make a living in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds.
The NHL draft process is dog crap. Secretive and overly complicated.
The Crosby year really exposed it as not being on the up and up.
Exactly, how could a team with the highest odds win that draft lottery.
On a positive note, we get the opportunity to watch you and your clan of paranoid obsessives do your thing after every draft lottery!
I just assume the oilers draft first every year.
Only happens when its Montreal or a New York based team. The lottery is rigged and Betman is behind this complete farce
Kinda love that Arizona’s tank job didn’t land them a free franchise player.
AZ didn’t tank on the ice. They played hard every night. The Habs tanked going from the cup finals to the worst team.
Tourigny had the Yotes playing hard almost every night. If the Coyotes were fully tanking, why would they win their last three games and let Montreal pass them on the last week?
It’s just an Arizona sports tradition. The Diamondbacks just needed to lose one of their last two to have the first draft pick — and they won them both.
Tanking never happens on the ice. It always happens in an office. And good for those AHL players that they played hard in their last time in an NHL arena for a few years.
I wouldn’t say the Canadiens tanked. They finished the 2021 regular season in 18th place in the league, only made the playoffs in the first place because of the scrambled divisions, had only one 20 goal scorer and no 50 point scorer, played FAR over their heads in the playoffs, and we all saw what happened when the clock struck midnight on Price being superhuman, and he went back to being the same meh goalie he’s been for the last few years.
Now take that, shove them back into the Atlantic Division, subtract Price, Weber, Danault, Perry, Tatar and Kotkaniemi, have Petry feeling his age, Drouin and Allen playing hurt (only ONE guy on the roster played 82 games), needing to play fifth- and sixth-string goalies, Dvorak not precisely being the second coming of Steve Shutt …
… no kidding they finished last.
Nha, if I was half as smart as you, they’d call me Einstein. Who are you for real, Scotty Bowman??
Heh, I wish. He made a lot more money than I have, that’s for sure! Thanks for the high compliment, though!
Thank you. Lets be honest here any habs fans will agree sonce 2019 this team has been mediocre at best they just took advantage of the situation they were handed. 2019-2020 we were on the outside then bracket expanded we got in despite traded away our vets at the deadline think our season was over.
2020-2021 again we were mediocre fired our coach brought in ducharme we got in based on the expanded playoffs again and rode a hot goalie and a possessed captain who literally left everything on the ice.
Knowing we were flawed bergevin went out and spent money on hoffman to help put up some points but knowing very well weber wasnt coming back replaced him with savard.. started the year with no gallagher kotkaniemi danault perry edmundson price byron or weber. Led/broke the record for most man games lost to injury in a season. No one could play a messed up non existent system of ducharme who was clearly over matched nightly. So to say we tanked is not fair. This team was meh long before this season started and our old gm just ran us into the ground with bad contracts and mediocre replacements.
NJ AGAIN!!! That sux!
I would say that Juraj Slafkovsky is their pick.
Nemec. They need defense.
They got luke Hughes
Walsh and Okhotyuk looked great in Utica this year too
inb4 someone claims it’s rigged.
Pro sports drafts: where bad bahavior is rewarded!
I’m for a punitive draft structure. That’ll keep teams from tanking!
that’s a great way to have teams that suck in perpetuity.
Good luck with that. Will be looking for your league to get up and running.
If you haven’t noticed, many of these teams who tank for the high picks continue sucking despite the high picks. Maybe if they didn’t peg their future fortunes on 18 year old saviors, they might just hire better hockey people to run their organizations.
Seems like a deal between NJ (who have taken enough small skilled centers with high picks lately) and CBJ (who really need even one) would make a lot of sense for both teams.
#2 for #6 and 12.
Fitzy does like having multiple first round picks
I dont think the Devils can pass up the chance to take Nemec. He wont be there at 6.
We wont because
1. We are drafting 2nd
2. We are drafting Slafkovsky
No.
Even at #9 Yzerman will draft the best player.
Slater Koekkoek agrees.
Zadina! ;)
…was not drafted by Yzerman