The Montreal Canadiens got the first draft pick in the NHL lottery on Tuesday.
The New Jersey Devils also won the lottery to climb to second place.
By virtue of his 32nd and last place overall in the NHL this season, the Canadiens had an 18.5% chance of winning the draw for the first choice. Its chances of obtaining the first right to speak in the repechage, however, stood at 25.5% since the teams ranked 12 to 16 could not increase by more than 10 places if they won the draw.
The NHL draft will take place on July 7 and 8 at the Bell Centre.
This is the first time since 1985 that the host team of the repechage will have the first right to speak. The Toronto Maple Leafs then selected Wendel Clark.
The Canadiens haven’t selected first overall in the NHL Draft since 1980, when they picked Doug Wickenheiser. He has spoken at third tier twice recently, selecting Alex Galchenyuk in 2012 and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2018.
Forward Shane Wright, of the Kingston Frontenacs, remains the favorite to be selected first, even if it seems to be less and less unanimous among observers.
Some now prefer the American Logan Cooley, or the Slovak Juraj Slafkovsky, an excellent player in the Beijing Olympics tournament last February.
Defensively, the Slovak Simon Nemec and the Czech David Jiricek are possibly the two most interesting prospects.
A team cannot win the lottery draw more than twice in five years.
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