Draft Lottery: Canadiens to pick fifth in Nashville

MONTREAL - The results are in: the Canadiens will be picking fifth overall at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville!

The NHL held its annual Draft Lottery at the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, NJ on Monday night to determine selection order for the Draft, which takes place at Bridgestone Arena on June 28 and 29.

The Habs went into the Lottery with an 8.5% chance of picking first overall, which represented the fifth-best odds of nabbing the top selection for 2023.

Rounding out the top-5 are (from fourth to first): San Jose, Columbus, Anaheim, and Chicago.

The Canadiens have picked fifth overall six times in their history. The last time they did so was in 2005, when they plucked Habs legend Carey Price out of the WHL.

Before Price, Montreal selected defenseman Petr Svoboda at No. 5 back in 1984. Other players selected by the Canadiens at fifth overall were Cam Connor (1974), Ray Martynuik (1970), Phil Myre (1966), and Pierre Bouchard (1965).