NHL Draft Lottery Rule Works To Montreal Canadiens Advantage

With the NHL’s Draft Lottery quickly approaching, certain conditions in play must be considered by teams that are in the midst of a rebuild.

While the NHL does reward failure with high draft picks, it has put a rule in place to avoid giving the first overall pick to the same club within a specific time frame.

The rule is as follows.

Limit on Teams Winning a Lottery Draw

No single team will be able to advance in the Draft order by reason of winning a Lottery Draw more than two (2) times in any five (5) year period. This limitation will not affect a Club’s ability to retain its presumptive Draft position in any Draft Lottery, nor would it preclude the possibility of the Club moving down in Draft Order to the extent other Clubs advance by reason of winning the Lottery Draws. For purposes of clarity, the limitation would attach to the team, not the specific pick.

By way of example, if a Club were to win the first Lottery Draw as the 7th Worst-Finishing Club in Year 1 (thereby earning the First Overall Selection in the succeeding Draft), and the second Lottery Draw as the 13th Worst-Finishing Club in Year 3 (thereby earning the Third Overall Selection in the succeeding Draft), that Club would no longer be eligible to benefit by winning a Lottery Draw in either of Year 4 or Year 5, and would not be able to benefit again by winning the Draft Lottery (or either of the Draft Lottery Draws) until Year 6 at the earliest.

Montreal Canadiens Angle

Even though the Montreal Canadiens were awarded the No.1 overall pick in 2022, the rule was put in place following the draft, which means they’re the last team in the NHL to have been awarded the first overall pick and not be affected by the new rule.

Of course, there are very low odds the Habs will win the Draft Lottery this season, as they will have the fifth-best odds heading into Tuesday’s event. That being said, the history of the Draft Lottery is littered with teams moving up because statistically speaking, the team that finishes with the best odds to draft first overall actually has better odds of drafting third overall.

It’s also questionable whether the Habs will be in a similar situation following the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. But if they are, they won’t have to worry about the NHL’s new rule.