Recruiting center reveals its final rankings for the 2022 draft and it's not unanimous

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Jeff Drouin
May 6, 2022 (0:23)

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All Habs fans are eagerly awaiting the next NHL draft lottery to find out which player will be named by Kent Hughes this July at the Bell Centre.

The Habs are guaranteed a top three pick and the odds of winning the lottery are 25.5%.

Marco Normandin of Habsolumentfan.com reported on the NHL Draft Central's final list of top prospects that will be available next July.

And unsurprisingly, there is one Shane Wright as the top North American prospect for the 2022 draft. The Kingston Frontenacs forward of the Ontario Junior League has 94 points in 63 games this season and even scored the game-winning goal to send his team to the second round of the playoffs.

Rounding out the top three North American skaters are forwards Logan Cooley and Cutter Gauthier, who both play for the U.S. Under-18 team.

Among the European skaters, Slovakian Juraj Slafkovsky tops the list, who was discovered last winter at the Beijing Olympics. He is followed by Finnish right-winger Joakim Kemell and Slovakian defenseman Simon Nemec.

As for the top three QMJHL prospects, forward Nathan Gaucher of the Quebec Remparts is ranked 16th, while defensemen Mavric Lamoureux of the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Tristan Luneau of the Gatineau Olympiques are ranked 20th and 24th, respectively, among the best skaters in North America.

Now that the official list of top prospects for the draft to be held this July at the Bell Centre is known, Canadiens fans can already start speculating on who might be a future franchise player.

To view the complete final list, click here.