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The Canadiens already know their selection rank for the next draft

 Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
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The Canadiens already know their selection rank for the next draft

I can’t wait for the lottery result. How much time is left? 1 h 30 at the time of writing… that’s too long! Let’s do it right away, OK Gary?

Even if I’m all worked up and can’t wait to find out where the Habs are going to draft, I’ll have no choice but to wait for the special broadcast at 8 p.m. tonight to find out the lottery results at the same time as everyone else.

Like everyone else? Well, not quite!

On this noon’s edition of On Jase program, Yanick Lévesque, who co-hosts with Martin Lemay, took the liberty of declaring that the general managers already knew the result of the draw even before the show was presented on our televisions. According to him, the draw is made during the afternoon, and Kent Hughes and his counterparts have to keep it secret and act surprised when NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly spins his famous cards in front of the cameras.

You can listen to the sequence here :

The problem is, that’s not exactly how things work in reality!

According to a article presented in 2019 by the NHLthe lottery rules are different from what Lévesque mentions. We learn that, in addition to an auditing firm, each team has a representative who attends the draw to ensure that everything is done by the book. This person is “locked up” without a cell phone with the others until the results are revealed on TV. All this to ensure that the information doesn’t leak before the fateful moment.

So, yes, someone at the Habs already knows what the team’s draft rank will be, but the team itself doesn’t know at all. Kent Hughes won’t have to do his best acting tonight, as his on-the-spot reaction will be authentic and unadorned.

In retracing this article on the rules surrounding the lottery, I was reminded of a statement Renaud Lavoie made last March, when a Maple Leafs representative present at the lottery told him that the Canadiens were the 2e ball after Toronto for the first overall pick in the 2016 auction.. That’s when Auston Matthews was the star of the draft. It doesn’t change much to know that, but it’s still fun to think that the Tricolore came close to having a great player like Matthews in its club.

All this also leads me to reflect on the rumours circulating on the web that the NHL lottery has been rigged. Frankly, with the security protocols in place, I don’t see how it could be.

Even so, nearly 44% of respondents to this unscientific survey say they believe this to be the case.

If Connor Bedard were to end up in Arizona, with the club’s current situation, it’s clear that this percentage would be on the rise. Let’s just say it would be too perfect for the NHL (Gary Bettman at the very least), which has been eager to save this moribund franchise since its inception.

Tic Toc.

The clock is ticking. The suspense is drawing to a close. Hang in there, folks, and keep your fingers crossed that, of Bedard’s 11 possible destinations, luck is on our side!


In brief-

Frank Corrado of That’s Hockey on TSN believes the best destination for Bedard is Montreal. Good thing we agree with him!

– It’s the Habs who draft Bedard, according to a test presented by the NHL Network.

– And a share by us! 🤣

– Devon Levi had a very nice mask made for the World Hockey Championships.

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