*This article was originally published in April 2023
In the NHL’s modern-era history, the Montreal Canadiens have landed a top-five draft pick four times. From an All-Star goaltender in Carey Price to the 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, each player provided the Bleu Blanc Rouge with a set of skills that helped elevate the team from the Draft Lottery to relevancy. This year, they hold a good chance of landing yet another selection in the top five.
While the 2023 NHL Playoffs were officially out of the question for the Habs, the opportunity arrived to add another player who could bring a set of tangibles to the team to brighten their future. Per the NHL Draft Lottery odds, the Canadiens had a 7.5 percent chance of obtaining the first-overall pick and a 7.9 percent chance to select second.
Related: Where Canadiens Improve Position by Position for 2023-24
As we approached the end of the 2022-23 season, we looked at the history of the Canadiens’ top-five selections in the NHL Entry Draft. Covering the modern era, from 1992 to the present day, these are the four players who helped shape the Habs for close to 20 years.
Canadiens’ History of Top-5 Selections (Modern Era)
2005 – Carey Price (Fifth Overall)
The 2005 Draft Lottery was one to remember, as it came on the eve of a new CBA announcement and followed the lockout season of 2004. The draft itself dropped to seven rounds, and the order in which the teams selected was based on the previously played season. The Pittsburgh Penguins lucked out by selecting Sidney Crosby first overall, but the Canadiens were in a great spot to land a coveted player at fifth overall. A centre to finally give the team that star power down the middle? A top-six winger, perhaps? The Habs instead chose goaltender Carey Price, much to the disbelief of the TSN panel.
The Canadiens already had Jose Theodore at the time, who was a two-time NHL All-Star and the recipient of both the Hart and Vezina Trophies in 2002. Mathieu Garon was serviceable as his backup, leading experts to believe the position between the pipes was solid enough to forego drafting a goaltender, let alone the number one-ranked North American goaltender of his draft. His answer? Winning the Molson Cup in October 2007, the first month of his NHL career, and becoming the Habs leader among goaltenders for wins, taking the mantle with his 361st victory during the 2021-22 season.
Price became a perfect example of “what could have been,” as a knee injury suffered in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs effectively took him out of the remainder of their run and inevitably derailed his career. A seven-time NHL All-Star, Olympic gold medalist, and recipient of the Hart, Vezina, and Bill Masterton Memorial Trophies, Price’s finest moments came during the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, where he was just three wins shy of capturing his first-ever Stanley Cup.
Unfortunately, his time between the pipes would come to a screeching halt, playing his final game in the 2021-22 season, a 10-2 victory against the Florida Panthers, before sitting out the entirety of the next season.
2012 – Alex Galchenyuk (Third Overall)
In his draft year, Alex Galchenyuk missed all but two regular-season games and six playoff games due to a knee injury, causing many to have concerns about his health. That didn’t stop the Canadiens from selecting him third overall, behind Nail Yakupov (first overall, Oilers) and Ryan Murray (second overall, Blue Jackets). In one of the weaker draft years of the decade, Montreal landed a forward with top-six potential that could play both centre and wing and demonstrated excellent playmaking and goal-scoring abilities playing alongside Charlie Sarault and Reid Boucher in Sarnia.
In his rookie season, Galchenyuk was paired with fellow rookie Brendan Gallagher and placed on a line with the gritty Brandon Prust. The dynamic of sandpaper and skill worked well for the youngster, as he finished with 27 points in 48 games, one point behind Gallagher. Two seasons later, he registered a career-high 30 goals and 56 points and was trusted with top-six minutes while quarterbacking the Habs’ top powerplay unit on the blue line. It was four seasons in the making, but finally, the third overall pick was showing off his skill and tenacity while remaining healthy.
Unfortunately, this was his peak as Galchenyuk’s production began to fall off. Scoring 36 goals in his final two seasons with the Canadiens, he was sent to the Arizona Coyotes for forward Max Domi, a move which was criticized by many at the time of the announcement. Since the trade, he’s played stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Colorado Avalanche.
2018 – Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Third Overall)
Six years later, Montreal found itself in the third overall spot again, opting this time to go with size and skill out of Finland with forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Scrutinized for passing on forwards like Brady Tkachuk and Filip Zadina, along with defensemen Quinn Hughes and Evan Bouchard, the Habs stood proud and confident that Kotkaniemi was the answer they required to boost the team’s top six and become a threat offensively.
A few weeks shy of his 18th birthday, Kotkaniemi made his NHL debut, registering one assist in a loss against the Maple Leafs and becoming the first person born in the year 2000 to play a game in any of the big four sports. Amassing a respectable 11 goals and 34 points in 79 games, he earned his place on the roster and showed incredible patience and poise as he bounced up and down the lineup, utilized in different roles on any given night.
Kotkaniemi impressed fans during the 2021 Stanley Cup run when he registered eight points in 19 games, scoring the overtime winner in Game 6 of the opening round against Toronto. Unfortunately for Montreal, he became the product of retribution for a failed offer sheet on Sebastian Aho in 2019. Kotkaniemi agreed to a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet, which the Canadiens did not match, and instead took the compensation of the Hurricanes’ first and third-round picks in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. He remains with Carolina, having signed an eight-year, $38.5 million deal in March 2022.
2022 – Juraf Slafkovsky (First Overall)
Montreal may have finished at the bottom of the standings in 2022, but they did not fail at winning the Draft Lottery that year, securing the number one overall pick. Passing up on Shane Wright, who experts projected as the top player of his class, the Canadiens instead went with Juraj Slafkovsky, the 6-foot-3 imposing winger from Slovakia. It was a controversial decision at the time, as both he and Wright gave teams their pros and cons, but the Habs ultimately went with size and skill.
Slafkovsky shocked and dazzled onlookers during the 2022 Winter Olympics, leading the tournament in goals with seven in seven games and aiding Slovakia to its first-ever medal in hockey, a bronze medal. Showcasing his ability to protect the puck with his size and smooth hands, which allowed him to dangle between defenders, he increased his stock tenfold in just a few weeks.
He gave the Canadiens enough confidence to earn a roster spot in the 2022-23 season and put up four goals and ten points in 39 games before sustaining a knee injury that effectively ended his year. Despite his slow start and abrupt end, Slafkovsky gives hope for a brighter future. He entered the 2023-24 season as a 19-year-old with a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove to himself and those who cheer him on.
