The Montreal Canadiens won the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery and will have the No. 1 overall pick at the Bell Centre in July. It is expected they will draft Shane Wright with the first-overall selection.
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Wright is a well-rounded centre who called himself an elite offensive player who takes care of his own end. He had a diverse, honed skillset, and while he might not be flashy, is reliable and consist. The Sportsnet panel said he would make for a great Philp Danault replacement. As captain of the Kingston Frontenacs this season, Wright finished eighth in OHL scoring, and projects to be a top NHL-level centreman in the future.
He said during a pre-lottery interview that he likely wouldn’t know the results of the lottery until after his game tonight but Jeff Marek reports, ”Wright was told the results of the draft lottery after it happened by someone in the organization (probably Kingston head coach Luca Caputi). Wright wanted to know so he didn’t think about it during his game vs North Bay.”
The Canadiens had the best odds to retain their selection, but there was some movement in other spots during the lottery. The New Jersey Devils jumped up to the No. 2 spot, while Chicago moved their pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Vegas Golden Knights sent their pick to the Buffalo Sabres. Both the Blackhawks and Golden Knights made trades with NHL draft conditions and both the Blue Jackets and Sabres will have two picks in the first round.
GM of the Canadiens, Kent Hughes said this was a great moment for the franchise and acknowledged the fans would be extremely excited about the team getting to pick first in a draft their club is hosting. It will be the first time in 37 years this has happened.
