Four picks in the top-50 of the next draft: that would be incredible (and possible)!

The Canadiens won’t be desperate to trade current players for draft picks.

Nick Suzuki recently said that the Habs had enough picks and that he didn’t want to see players leave for picks. And from the looks of it, the captain is probably right.

When you take the time to analyze things properly, you see that the Flames’ first pick of 2025 is the one obtained with Sean Monahan. As for the Penguins’ 2025 second-round pick, it was received when Jeff Petry (briefly) returned in 2023.

But by necessity, given that both the Penguins and the Habs are not playoff teams (I won’t be fooled into thinking otherwise this lunchtime), the picks could really be high.

It seems like no one had really raised the flag recently about how good the Penguins pick could be, but that’s what Marc-Olivier Beaudoin did this morning.

And without saying that it will necessarily be a top-40 pick, it’s clear that the pick obtained could be in the top-50 if the Penguins ever narrowly miss the playoffs, for example.

The #CH holds the Penguins’ 2nd-round pick. If the trend continues, it could very well be a top 2nd-round pick.

So they could have something like…

#7 (MTL)
#13 (CGY)
#38 (PIT)
#39 (MTL)

Not a bad choice/flexibility ;)#Habs #Canadiens

– Marc-Olivier Beaudoin (@MOBeaudoin1) October 29, 2024

Four top-50 picks hardly ever happen. In the recent history of the Habs, the 2022 draft could be the closest we’ve come – even if, in 2025, you can’t expect to win the lottery.

• 1st: Juraj Slafkovsky
• 26th: Filip Mesar
• 33rd: Owen Beck
• 62nd: Lane Hutson

If ever the Habs were to have a draft like the one in 2022 (not counting Adam Engstrom and the others afterwards), it’s clear that this would help in the club’s rebuilding process.

But if not, these picks can also be a great trade chip…