Kent Hughes and the Canadiens Could Be on the Verge of Acquiring Another Top-Five Pick in the 2025 NHL Draft
Usually, American Thanksgiving is a good time to see if a team will make the playoffs or not.
Between 2005 and 2023 (excluding shortened seasons), 76.67% of teams in a playoff position at this time were able to maintain a spot for the playoffs a few months later.
The Montreal Canadiens , despite their current good streak and the return of Laine, are ranked 30th in the league.
If the trend continues, they will not only be in the upcoming lottery, but they will also have a very good chance of getting a top-5 pick.
The Canadiens have not yet finished their first phase of rebuild. The management will once again want to keep their draft picks in order to draft as much as possible, rather than trading them for immediate help.
Kent Hughes has recently stated that he will not do anything that could harm the club's future.
«With a young team, we're going to see more mistakes sometimes. We could bring in a veteran who would make fewer mistakes, but that would take away playing time that could allow a young player to gain experience, so they don't make those mistakes someday.»
- Kent Hughes
Despite another miserable season, the GM can take some comfort on one level: the quality of the picks he will have in the upcoming NHL draft.
Five solid draft picks for Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens?
He could even, with a bit of luck and work, speak at five occasions during the first 40 picks of this draft.
5 picks in the top 40
To date, the Canadiens not only have their own 1st-round pick (top 5?), but also that of the Calgary Flames obtained in the trade involving Sean Monahan. This pick could end up between 11th and 20th.
In addition to these two picks, there are two second-round picks from the Canadiens and one from the Pittsburgh Penguins. With the start of the season that Sidney Crosby's team is having, this pick would be quite high (37th as of today).
In recent days, Dennis Bernstein from TheFourthPeriod also mentioned that the Canadiens could very well get a 1st-round pick for the services of Savard.
Let's hope this will be the last time the Canadiens have such a full hand in the draft.
In the coming years, these picks will certainly be traded in order to acquire help at the trade deadline. Looking forward to the end of this phase of the rebuild!
| POLL | ||
Where will the Habs finish this season? | ||
| Last | 84 | 4.8 % |
| Bottom 3 | 395 | 22.5 % |
| Bottom 5 | 683 | 39 % |
| Bottom 10 | 590 | 33.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
