First round of the NHL draft | The lottery on May 10

As Daniel Thibault howled it with TSPC, Kent Hughes undoubtedly wants to know the continuation. He will know her on May 10.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

It is indeed on this day that the National League draft lottery will take place. This is where he will know if the Canadian’s year of suffering will earn him the very first choice of the 2022 auction.

The NHL announced details on the next draft on Wednesday.

The lottery will take place on May 10, in New Jersey. The main regulations are as follows.

• The team that will finish at 32^and overall ranking will have an 18.5% chance of winning 1^er choice. Last year, the last-place team had a 16.6% chance;
• The team that will finish at 31^and rank in the general classification (the current position of the Canadiens) will have a 13.5% chance;
• From now on, no team can climb more than 10 ranks if they win the lottery. This means that only the 11 worst teams in the standings can win the first choice. Previously, any team excluded from the playoffs had a chance to draft at 1^er rank.

The Habs currently occupy 31^and rank in the general classification and his chances of climbing are increasingly slim. The Montrealers are indeed five points (before Wednesday’s games) behind the Seattle Kraken and the 30^and rank, with five games to go. The Kraken, he still has to play seven games.

The Arizona Coyotes bring up the rear at 32^and rank. With 49 points, they are two points behind the Canadian, and have six games to play.

That said, the lottery does its job and last-place teams haven’t consistently drafted to 1^er rank. The 2020 New York Rangers and 2019 New Jersey Devils shorted the standings to get 1^er choice, claiming respectively Alexis Lafrenière and Jack Hughes. In 2017, the lottery allowed these same Devils to jump from 5^and at 1^er rank and to fish out the Swiss Nico Hischier.

In 2018 and 2021, on the other hand, the Buffalo Sabers maintained their position and obtained the 1^er choice. That earned them, in order, defenders Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

Rangers had also been lucky in 2019, going from 6^and at 2^and rank, to fish out Kaapo Kakko. Jeff Gorton, GM of the Rangers at the time, is now vice-president of hockey operations for the Canadiens.

The Canadian won the lottery only once. That was in 2018, and the gain was modest. The team has indeed gone from 4^and at 3^and rank and drafted Jesperi Kotkaniemi, a selection that caused absolutely no stir.

In the NHL Central Scouting’s mid-season rankings, center Shane Wright was listed as the top North American prospect. The Ontarian has 94 points in 63 games with the Kingston Frontenacs.

Forwards Logan Cooley (USA National Development Program) and Matt Savoie (Winnipeg Ice) arrive at the 2^and and 3^and ranks in North America.

Among the hopefuls playing in Europe, Joakim Kemell was enthroned at 1^er rank, with 15 goals and 8 assists for 23 points in 39 games with the JyP of Jyväskylä, in the Finnish first division. He was ahead of another striker on the Finnish circuit, Juraj Slafkovský, author of 10 points in 31 games.

Central Scouting will publish its end-of-season rankings on May 5.

The NHL Draft will take place at the Bell Center on July 7-8.