SECAUCUS, N.J. (May 10, 2022) – The Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils own the first and second overall drafting positions, respectively, for the First Round of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft as a result of the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery, conducted this evening at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio.
Participants in the Draft Lottery included all teams that did not qualify for the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs (or the teams that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams).
Two draws were conducted to determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the First Round of the Draft. Among the changes to the Draft Lottery format for this year announced on March 23, 2021, there was a limit on the total number of selections (10) a team participating in the Draft Lottery could “move up” in the event it won one of the Lottery Draws. Thus, only the top 11 seeds were eligible to receive the first overall selection.
The order of selection for the first 16 picks of the First Round, only, of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft is as follows:
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Arizona Coyotes
4. Seattle Kraken
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Columbus Blue Jackets (from 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 (from Vegas)
The remaining positions are determined by the results of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Canadiens Win No. 1 Drafting Position
In the drawing that determined the No. 1 drafting position, the Canadiens’ combinations had the greatest percentage likelihood of being selected based on inverse order of regular-season finish (18.5%). It marks the fourth time since 2016 the team in the No. 1 position has retained the No. 1 overall pick in the Draft Lottery (Toronto in 2016, Buffalo in 2018 and 2021, Montreal in 2022).
The Canadiens have made the first overall selection five times in NHL Draft history: 1963 (Garry Monahan), 1968 (Michel Plasse), 1969 (Réjean Houle), 1971 (Guy Lafleur) and 1980 (Doug Wickenheiser).
Devils Win No. 2 Drafting Position
In the drawing that determined the No. 2 drafting position, the Devils had the fourth-greatest percentage likelihood among the remaining clubs eligible for selection (10.4%).
The Devils franchise has picked No. 2 overall five times: 1974 (as Kansas City Scouts, Wilf Paiement), 1975 (as Kansas City Scouts, Barry Dean), 1977 (as Colorado Rockies, Barry Beck), 1984 (Kirk Muller) and 1987 (Brendan Shanahan).
For each of the two drawings, 14 balls, numbered 1 to 14, were placed in a lottery machine. The machine randomly selected four balls. The resulting four-number series (without regard to selection order) was matched against a chart that shows all possible combinations and the clubs to which each was assigned. The chart showed that the Canadiens had been assigned the numbers (1-3-4-13) that were expelled in the first drawing, followed by the Devils (3-5-10-14) in the second drawing.
2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft
The 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft is scheduled from July 7-8, 2022 and will be hosted by the Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Shane Wright (Burlington, Ont.), a center from the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs, places No. 1 among North American Draft prospects in rankings released last week by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Rounding out the top-five North American skaters include a pair of forwards from USA Hockey’s National Team Development program’s Under-18 team, No. 2 Logan Cooley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and No. 3 Cutter Gauthier (Skelleftea, Sweden), followed by a pair of centers from Winnipeg of the Western Hockey League in No. 4 Matthew Savoie (St. Albert, Alta.) and No. 5 Conor Geekie (Strathclair, Man.).
Juraj Slafkovsky (Kosice, Slovakia), a left wing for TPS in Finland, tops all international skaters while Tyler Brennan of Prince George in the WHL and Topias Leinonen of JYP (Jrs.) in Finland rank No. 1 among goaltenders on the North America and International lists, respectively.
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