The Montreal Canadiens won the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2022 NHL Draft in Tuesday night’s draft lottery.
The Canadiens, who finished with a league-low 55 points (22-49-11), had the best odds of landing the No. 1 pick at 18.5 percent.
Montreal will host the draft on July 7-8 at the Bell Centre, marking the first time since 1985 that the team hosting the draft (Toronto) also held the No. 1 pick.
The New Jersey Devils (25-46-11, 61 points) came away with the second overall pick, the only team to significantly benefit from the lottery under the system introduced last year. After entering the day with the fifth-best odds of receiving No. 1 (8.5 percent), they won the second lottery draw conducted for the No. 2 pick.
The Arizona Coyotes, Seattle Kraken and Philadelphia Flyers round out the top five.
The Chicago Blackhawks’ sixth overall pick will belong to the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of last offseason’s trade that brought defenseman Seth Jones to Chicago. Similarly, the Vegas Golden Knights’ 16th overall pick will convey to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the blockbuster Jack Eichel trade.
Forward Shane Wright of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs is widely expected to be the top pick.
The order of picks 1-16 is as follows:
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Arizona Coyotes
4. Seattle Kraken
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Columbus Blue Jackets (via Chicago)
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Detroit Red Wings
9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Anaheim Ducks
11. San Jose Sharks
12. Columbus Blue Jackets
13. New York Islanders
14. Winnipeg Jets
15. Vancouver Canucks
16. Buffalo Sabres (via Vegas)
–Field Level Media