NHL Draft Lottery to be held remotely on May 10

It was announced Wednesday that the 2022 NHL draft will be held remotely on May 10. The NHL general managers and executives will participate online from their respective home venues.

The draft lottery will comprise all NHL teams that did not proceed to the playoffs this season. The draft itself is scheduled to take place on July 7 and 8 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Originally slated to take place in Montreal in 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic forced the event to be postponed.

At the moment, the Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Seattle Kraken, and Philadelphia Flyers are some of the clubs with the worst records in the league. Reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 does not erase the fact that the Canadiens had the lowest record in the NHL with a record of 20-46-11 (51 points), as of Wednesday.

The draft lottery now has new regulations. Teams are not allowed to climb up more than ten spots or win more than twice in five years. Only the top two picks, however, are eligible for the lottery.

When the Buffalo Sabres won the draft lottery last year, they chose defenseman Owen Power as the top pick comparable to Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones. On the other hand, the Kraken selected center Matty Beniers in the second round of the 2021 draft.

Prediction

A list of top North American and international skaters and goaltenders for the 2022 draft will be released by NHL Central Scouting on May 5.

Forward Shane Wright of Kingston (Ontario Hockey League), defenseman Pavel Mintyukov of Saginaw (OHL), and forward Logan Cooley from USA Hockey National Team U-18 Program team are among the best North American skaters.

Danila Yurov of Magnitogorsk from Russia, forward Joakim Kemell of (Finland), Marco Kasper (Austria), and Juraj Slafkovsky of TPS (Finland) are currently the best International skaters.

The Coyotes, Canadiens, and Kraken are the front-runners for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft. However, regardless of whether the teams get the pick, there is a good possibility that Wright will be selected.

The 18-year-old forward, who plays for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL, is widely considered to be the best player available due to his 84 points (28 goals, 56 assists) in 58 games in the 2021-22 season. Wright’s achievements are significantly better compared to his second contender, Cooley, who got 64 points (23 goals, 41 assists), with six power-play goals and three shorthanded goals, in 43 games.

"I'm someone who wants to win every single day," Wright said last month on the NHL Draft Class podcast. "I'm someone whose goal is to win and win championships.

"Whatever team drafts me, we're going to be building toward a championship. My mindset is not to win scoring titles, it's not to win MVPs, it's to win Stanley Cups."

Besides Wright, another promising young player that has a strong chance to win the draft is Kasper. As the team's captain, the 17-year-old forward has the right set of skills to perform at the highest level possible.

"As a team we saw that we still have a lot of room to improve but that we are on the right path to becoming a better hockey country," Kasper said. "As a player, it's always great to play against the best players in your age and to see where you have room to improve."