Draft Picks (2024-2027)
Current as of April 19, 2024
2024
1 – The Winnipeg Jets sent their first-round pick in 2024 to Montreal on February 2, 2024 to acquire Sean Monahan. Winnipeg’s third-round pick in 2027 would also go in Montreal’s direction should the Jets win the Stanley Cup in 2024.
2 – Montreal traded Artturi Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche ahead of the trade deadline on March 21, 2022, receiving defence prospect Justin Barron and Colorado’s second-round pick in 2024.
3 – The Canadiens traded Joel Edmundson to the Washington Capitals as the free agency period began on July 1, 2023, receiving a third-round pick (which had originally belonged to the Minnesota Wild) and the Capitals’ seventh-rounder in 2024.
4 – On March 3, 2023, the day of the trade deadline for the 2022-23 season, the San Jose Sharks dealt Nick Bonino to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens were involved as a third party and made two separate deals. First, they acquired Bonino and a 2024 fifth-round pick from the Sharks for the rights to Arvid Henrikson, then flipped Bonino to Pittsburgh after retaining 50% of his remaining salary to acquire SHL defenceman Tony Sund.
5 – The package Montreal received for trading Brett Kulak to the Edmonton Oilers on March 21, 2022, the day of the NHL Trade Deadline, was defenceman William Lagesson, a conditional second-round pick in 2022, and a seventh-round pick in 2024. If the Oilers had made it to the Stanley Cup Final, the second-round pick would have moved to 2023 instead, but Edmonton was swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.
Montreal could receive a 2024 first-round selection from the Calgary Flames as part of the trade for Sean Monahan (see 2025 note 8).
The Canadiens included their second-round pick in a package when they acquired Christian Dvorak (see 2022 note 4).
2025
6 – The Canadiens received a conditional 2025 first-round pick and Sean Monahan from the Calgary Flames in a trade for no return on August 18, 2022. The conditions are complex, and outlined below:
7 – The Canadiens were one of the parties in a three-team trade that had Erik Karlsson going from the San Jose Sharks to the Pittsburgh Penguins on August 6, 2023. In that trade, the Canadiens sent Mike Hoffman to the Sharks and Rem Pitlick to the Penguins, acquiring Jeff Petry, Casey DeSmith, Nathan Légaré, and a 2025 second-round pick from the Penguins.
8 – Jake Allen was traded to the New Jersey Devils at the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8, 2024 for the Devils’ third-round pick in 2025. If Allen plays at least 40 games in the 2024-25 season and the team he finishes the season with makes the playoffs, the pick will become New Jersey’s 2025 second-rounder.
9 – Along with receiving forward Tanner Pearson in a trade for Casey DeSmith on September 19, 2023, Montreal also received the Vancouver Canucks’ third-round pick in 2025
10 – Nine days after reacquiring Jeff Petry from the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings on August 15, 2023. In return, the Canadiens received defenceman Gustav Lindström and a fourth-round pick in 2025. Detroit held two picks for that round: their own and one from the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens will receive the lower of the two once the 2025 order is known.
2026
Montreal could receive a 2026 first-round selection from the Calgary Flames as part of the trade for Sean Monahan (see 2025 note 6).
2027
1 – If the Winnipeg Jets win the Stanley Cup in 2014, Montreal will receive a third-round pick in 2027 from the team as part of the Sean Monahan trade (see 2024 note 1).
Historical Draft Picks (2005-2023)
2023
1 – The Pittsburgh Penguins included their fourth-round pick with Mike Matheson in their trade for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling on June 16, 2022.
2 -Montreal received Las Vegas’s fourth-round pick in 2021 as compensation for trading Nick Cousins on February 24, 2020. They traded the pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a fourth-round selection in 2022 on July 24, 2021. That Lightning pick was traded to Las Vegas on July 8, 2022 for the Golden Knights’ fourth-round pick in 2023.
3 – Tyler Toffoli was traded to the Calgary Flames on February 14, 2022, netting a return of Tyler Pitlick, prospect Emil Heineman, a 2022 first-round pick, and Calgary’s fifth-round selection in 2023. The first-rounder was top-10 protected; if the pick ended up in one of the first 10 places of the NHL draft, the Flames would keep it and instead send their first-rounder in 2023 along with a fourth-rounder in 2024 as the replacement package. Once the Flames clinched a playoff spot, the original 2022 pick traded hands.
A first-round pick Montreal received from Florida for Ben Chiarot (see 2022 note 8) would have slipped to 2024 if the Panthers’ 2022 first-rounder, moved in a previous trade, ended up as a top-10 selection and require the 2023 pick to move in that original trade instead. That condition wasn’t met as the Panthers claimed the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top team in 2021-22. On June 27, 2023, Montreal sent this first-round pick, along with their assigned second-round selection and defence prospect Gianni Fairbrother, to the Colorado Avalanche in a trade for Alex Newhook.
2022
4 – Montreal traded for Christian Dvorak on September 4, 2021. The cost was their second-round pick in 2024 going to the Arizona Coyotes along with a first-round selection in 2022. If neither of the two first-rounders Montreal held at the time of the trade (their own and Carolina’s; see 2022 note 7) was a top-10 selection in 2022 following the draft lottery, the better of the two picks would have transferred. Since Montreal was locked into a top-10 selection, the condition switched to the worst one changing hands, so the Habs parted with Carolina’s and kept their own.
3 – The Calgary Flames’ first-round pick in 2022 was part of the return for Tyler Toffoli in the trade made on February 14, 2022 (see 2023 note 3).
5 – See 2024 note 5.
6 – Montreal acquired a third-round pick in 2021 from Chicago, along with a second- and seventh-round selection in 2020, for Andrew Shaw and a 2020 seventh (see 2020 note 13). This pick was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for their third-rounder in 2022 on July 24, 2021.
7 – The Canadiens received the Carolina Hurricanes’ assigned first- and third-round picks as the compensation for losing Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet on September 4, 2021. The first-round selection was used to acquire Christian Dvorak (see 2022 note 4).
8 – The Canadiens dealt Ben Chiarot to the Florida Panthers on March 16, 2022. In return they received prospect Ty Smilanic, Florida’s first-round pick in 2023, and a fourth-round selection for the 2022 draft that the Panthers had obtained from the New York Rangers.
9 – The Ottawa Senators added a seventh-round pick in 2020 to the deal on February 24, 2020 that sent Aaron Luchuk to Montreal in exchange for Matthew Peca. Montreal used that pick to reacquire its own seventh-round selection from the Chicago Blackhawks on October 7, 2020 which has been included in their trade of Andrew Shaw (see 2020 note 15)….
… Montreal received a seventh-round pick from St. Louis in the acquisition of Jake Allen on September 2, 2020. The cost was the Washington Capitals’ 2020 third-round pick the Habs had received for Ilya Kovalchuk, and the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2020 seventh-rounder acquired in the trade of Andrew Shaw. The seventh-round pick from St. Louis was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers on April 12, 2021 in exchange for Erik Gustafsson, and the Flyers subsequently dealt it to Arizona in the Shayne Gostisbehere trade….
… Montreal’s assigned pick in 2021 that was reacquired from the Blackhawks in 2020 was sent to the Arizona Coyotes on July 24, 2021 to acquire the St. Louis Blues’ seventh-round selection in 2022 that they had held previously from the Jake Allen trade. (Did you follow all that?)
The Canadiens traded Alexander Romanov and their assigned fourth-round pick (98th overall) to the New York Islanders for pick number 13 in 2022, then flipped that pick along with their own third-round selection (66th) to the Chicago Blackhawks to acquire Kirby Dach on July 7, 2022.
2021
10 – Tampa Bay’s second-round pick, and a fourth-rounder in 2020, were received as compensation for the Lightning moving up to 56th on October 7, 2020, which was a second-round pick originally acquired from the St. Louis Blues for Marco Scandella. (see 2021 note 12).
11 – The Anaheim Ducks sent a fourth-round pick in 2020 to Montreal to acquire Nicolas Deslauriers on June 30, 2019. Montreal traded this pick to the San Jose Sharks on October 7, 2020 for a third-round pick in 2021 that originally belonged to the Washington Capitals.
12 – The Canadiens traded Marco Scandella to the St. Louis Blues on February 18. 2020 in exchange for St. Louis’s second-rounder in 2020 and a conditional fourth in 2021. If Scandella signed an extension with St. Louis before October 7, 2020, or he played at least half the games as the Blues progress to the Western Conference Final, the pick would transfer. Scandella signed with St. Louis on April 16, 2020, satisfying that first condition and sending the pick to Montreal.
13 – Nate Thompson was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers on February 24, 2020 for the Flyers’ fifth-round pick.
14 – Montreal traded its own fourth-round pick in on July 24, 2021 to move down to the Minnesota Wild’s selections in the fifth and seventh rounds.
Montreal traded its assigned picks in rounds three and five to the Buffalo Sabres on March 26, 2021 to acquire Eric Staal.
Montreal’s seventh-round selection was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes at the 2021 NHL Draft for the 2022 seventh-rounder initially assigned to the St. Louis Blues (see 2022 note 9).
The Canadiens received a fifth-round pick in 2021 along with minor-leaguer Andrew Sturtz from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenceman Mikey Reilly on January 2. 2020. Montreal traded this pick and prospect Hayden Verbeek to acquired Jon Merrill from the Detroit Red Wings on April 11, 2021.
2020
8 – See 2021 note 8.
15 – Montreal traded Andrew Shaw and its assigned seventh-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft to Chicago on June 30, 2019 for the Blackhawks’ second- and seventh-round slots in 2020 and their third-round selection in 2021. The Canadiens’ seventh-rounder was reacquired on October 7, 2020 (see 2022 note 9).
16 – The Canadiens traded prospect Simon Bourque to the Winnipeg Jets on June 30, 2018. The return was Joel Armia, the Jets’ seventh-round pick in 2019, their fourth-round pick in 2020, and goaltender Steve Mason, who was only briefly on the roster before being bought out the same day.
17 – The 139th overall pick that had been part of the package that included selection #123 in 2018 (see 2018 note 26) was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on June 23, 2018 for their 2019 fifth-round pick. The Canadiens traded this pick on June 22, 2018 to Florida to acquire the Panthers’ fifth-round selection in 2020.
Montreal’s third-round pick was included in the trade that sent Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Josh Anderson on October 6, 2020.
The Canadiens traded their fourth-round pick in 2019 to the San Jose Sharks on June 22, 2019 to acquired the Sharks’ 2020 fourth-round selection. That pick was used to acquire Marco Scandella from the Buffalo Sabres on January 2, 2020.
On September 12, 2020, Montreal traded its fifth-round pick in the 2020 Draft (139th) to the Carolina Hurricanes to acquire the rights to pending unrestricted free agent defenceman Joel Edmundson.
Montreal sent its 2020 seventh-rounder to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 22, 2019 to reacquire its own seventh-round selection in 2019 (see 2019 note 21).
Montreal traded Ilya Kovalchuk to the Washington Capitals for the Caps’ third-round pick on February 23, 2020, less than two months after signing him as a free agent. This pick was packaged with the Blackhawks’ 2020 seventh-round pick obtained in the trade of Andrew Shaw to acquire Jake Allen and the St Louis Blues’ 2022 seventh-round pick on September 2, 2020.
2019
16 – See 2020 note 16.
17 – See 2020 note 17.
18 – The Montreal Canadiens traded Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights on September 10, 2018. The return was Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki, and a second-round pick that Vegas had received a year earlier from the Columbus Blue Jackets for taking on the contract of David Clarkson. (The pick used to select Suzuki was also part of that original deal.)
The Canadiens traded that pick (50th overall) at the draft on June 22, 2019 to the Los Angeles Kings to move down to 64th and 126th.
19 – NCAA goaltender Hayden Hawkey was traded to Edmonton after the draft concluded on June 23, 2018 in exchange for the Oilers’ fifth-rounder in 2019.
20 – The Canadiens received a fourth-round pick in 2018 for Joe Morrow on the deadline day of February 26, 2018. The Habs sent this pick to the Calgary Flames at the draft on June 23, 2018 to acquire that club’s assigned fourth-round pick in 2019. On February 11, 2019, Calgary’s pick went to the Los Angeles Kings in return for Nate Thompson and the fifth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes that L.A. had acquired for Dominik Kubalik on January 24, 2019.
21 – On June 22, 2019, the Canadiens reacquired their 2019 seventh-round pick from the Philadelphia Flyers by parting with their assigned slot in round seven for 2020 (see 2018 note 27).
The Canadiens traded their fifth-round pick on June 22, 2017 to add defenceman David Schlemko, who had just been selected in the expansion draft by the Vegas Golden Knights the day before.
Montreal had acquired the Washington Capitals’ fifth-round pick in exchange for Jakub Jerabek on February 21, 2018. That pick was flipped to the Minnesota Wild at the deadline on February 26, 2018 to add defenceman Mikey Reilly.
2018
22 – Chicago’s second-round pick and Phillip Danault were acquired by Montreal for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann on February 26, 2016.
23 – Tomas Plekanec was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 25, 2018 — the day before the NHL Trade Deadline — along with AHL forward Kyle Baun in exchange for Kerby Rychel, Rinat Valiev, and the Leafs’ second-round pick in 2018.
24 – The Canadiens traded Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals during the first round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The return was Washington’s second-round picks in both 2017 and 2018. Montreal traded down with the 2018 pick on the draft floor on June 23, 2018, giving up the 62nd overall selection to acquire picks 71 and 133 from the Edmonton Oilers.
25 – The Canadiens traded a conditional fourth-round pick ahead of the 2017 trade deadline to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Dwight King. If King had been on the reserve roster at some point between July 1 and November 15 of 2017, or if the Habs had advanced to the third round of the 2017 playoffs and King played at least half the games to get there, LA would have obtained Montreal’s third-rounder instead. Since neither of those situations transpired, the original fourth was the pick that transferred.
Montreal traded Torrey Mitchell to the Los Angeles Kings on November 23, 2017 in exchange for the Kings’ fifth-round pick. There was a condition on the pick: should the Kings make the playoffs in 2017-18, the Habs’ fourth-round pick, which L.A. had previously acquired, would be returned instead. That situation came to pass when the Kings made the post-season in the Western Conference’s first wild-card slot.
26 – Al Montoya was traded to the Edmonton Oilers on Januaury 4, 2018. A conditional fifth-round pick from Edmonton was the return, which became a fourth-round selection when Montoya played 30 minutes or more for a seventh game with the Oilers on March 18, 2018.
The Canadiens traded this pick to the San Jose Sharks on June 23, 2018 to acquire picks #123 (originally assigned to the Vegas Golden Knights) and #139 which the Sharks had recently added by acquiring and then trading Mike Hoffman; from Ottawa, to Florida.
27 – The Habs sent their seventh-round pick to Philadelphia at the 2017 Entry Draft (see 2017 note 30). They re-acquired that pick on June 23, 2018 by parting with their seventh-round pick in 2019.
Mikhail Sergachev was sent to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Jonathan Drouin on June 15, 2017. The deal was set to include a swap of picks — Washington’s second-rounder in 2018 (see 2018 note 24) for Tampa Bay’s sixth-round selection — if Sergachev had played fewer than 40 games across the regular and post-season in 2017-18. He reached that mark on January 4, 2018, versus the Canadiens, so the picks did not transfer.
Montreal’s sixth-round pick in 2018 was shipped off to the Detroit Red Wings on February 28, 2017 for Steve Ott.
2017
28 – see 2018 note 24.
29 – Montreal received Buffalo’s third-round pick in 2017 just before the expansion draft trade freeze on June 17, 2017, as the return for defenceman Nathan Beaulieu.
30 – The Canadiens traded their seventh-round pick in 2018 to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 24, 2017 for the Flyers’ seventh-rounder in 2017.
Montreal’s fourth-round pick was added into the deal on February 27, 2017 that saw Jordie Benn join the team in exchange for Greg Pateryn heading to the Dallas Stars.
The Habs’ sixth-round pick was packaged with AHL defenceman Jonathan Racine in the acquisition of Nikita Nesterov from the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 26, 2017.
Montreal’s seventh-round pick was traded for Winnipeg’s seventh-round choice in 2016 (see 2016 note 32).
2016
31 – The Vancouver Canucks sent their fifth-round pick in 2016 along with Zack Kassian to Montreal in a trade on the opening day of free agency in the 2015 off-season for Brandon Prust.
32 – The Canadiens acquired a seventh-round pick on June 25, 2016 from the Winnipeg Jets just as the final selections were being made on day two of the draft. The cost was the Habs’ own seventh-round selection in the 2017 Draft.
The Buffalo Sabres acquired the 2016 second-round pick of the Minnesota Wild as part of the Matt Moulson trade on March 5th, 2014. That pick was subsequently dealt to Montreal in the Josh Gorges trade. The Canadiens combined that pick (#45) with their own second-round selection (#39) to acquire Andrew Shaw from Chicago.
The Canadiens offered their fifth-round pick in 2016 to the Buffalo Sabres to acquire Brian Flynn on the March 2nd, 2015 trade deadline.
The seventh-round selection was also traded to Buffalo on the same day, in exchange for Torrey Mitchell.
2015
33 – The Colorado Avalanche’s fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft was acquired in the June 30th trade that brought in P.-A. Parenteau in exchange for Daniel Brière.
Montreal’s assigned picks for the second and fourth rounds in the 2015 draft ending up being transferred to the Edmonton Oilers in the 2014-15 trade deadline acquisition of Jeff Petry.
The Canadiens’ fifth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft was transferred to the Florida Panthers in the previous season’s acquisition of Mike Weaver.
The Anaheim Ducks were set to relinquish their fifth-round selection in the 2015 draft to Montreal as their part of the acquisition of Louis Leblanc, provided he played in 15 games during the 2014-15 NHL season. Since that condition was not met, the pick did not transfer.
2014
34 – Montreal traded their assigned picks in rounds three (87th overall selection) and four (117th) to Arizona for the Coyotes’ third-round pick (73rd).
35 – The New York Islanders added a conditional fifth-round pick to Montreal’s trade deadline deal for Thomas Vanek. That pick became the property of the Canadiens when Montreal officially qualified for the playoffs.
Montreal’s second-round pick in the 2014 draft (along with prospect Sebastian Collberg) was sent the other way in the Vanek deal, on the same condition that Montreal needed to finish the season in a playoff position for the pick to transfer.
2013
36 – Montreal dealt Andrei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators for that organization’s second-round pick (34th).
37 – During the Canadiens-Boston Bruins game on January 12, 2012, Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland, and the Calgary Flames’ second-round pick in the 2013 entry draft (36th) were acquired in a trade for Mike Cammalleri, Karri Ramo, and Montreal’s fifth-round pick in 2012.
38 – Montreal received Michael Ryder and a third-round pick (71st) from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Erik Cole.
The fifth-round pick that was assigned to Montreal for the 2013 draft was given to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenceman Davis Drewiske.
Montreal traded its seventh-round pick in 2013 to Florida for the Panthers’ seventh-round selection in 2014. That pick was returned, along with AHL forward Philippe Lefebvre, to Florida later in the off-season for the services of George Parros.
2012
39 – Hal Gill and a conditional 2013 fifth-round pick were dealt to Nashville for Blake Geoffrion, Robert Slaney, and Nashville’s second-round selection. The transaction for the Canadiens’ fifth-round pick was negated in the Andrei Kostitsyn deal the following season (see 2013 note 36).
40 – James Wisniewski’s rights were traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the end of the 2011-12 NHL season for a conditional seventh-round pick. That pick became a fifth-round selection (122nd) when Wisniewski signed with Columbus for the 2012-13 season.
Montreal traded Brock Trotter and their seventh-round selection in 2012 to the Phoenix Coyotes for Petteri Nokelainen and Garrett Stafford.
2011
41 – Montreal acquired Brent Sopel and Nigel Dawes from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Ben Maxwell and Montreal’s fourth-round pick in the 2011 draft. On draft day, Montreal traded down with the franchise (which had moved to Winnipeg since the original deal), giving up its third-round pick (78th) for the newly-minted Winnipeg Jets’ fourth-round pick (97th) and the return of the previously transacted fourth-rounder (108th).
42 – The Canadiens received a fourth-round pick from the Anaheim Ducks in return for Kyle Chipchura.
Dominic Moore was acquired from Florida for Montreal’s second-round pick in the 2011 draft.
The Canadiens organization also received a compensatory second-round draft pick for being unable to get its 2006 first-round draftee, defenceman David Fischer, signed to an entry-level contract. That draft pick was used to acquire James Wisniewski from the New York Islanders.
2010
43 – Montreal and the Phoenix Coyotes swapped picks on the draft floor in 2010, with Montreal’s first- (27th) and second-round (57th) selections being exchanged for Phoenix’s higher first-round slot (22nd) and a fourth-round pick that the Coyotes had previously received from the Buffalo Sabres (113th).
2009
44 – Mathieu Schneider was re-acquired by the Canadiens, along with a third-round pick (65th), from the Atlanta Thrashers for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft (received from Washington in a transaction for Cristobal Huet) and Montreal’s third-round selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
45 – The Pittsburgh Penguins’ seventh-round selection (211th) was acquired by Montreal for the Canadiens’ sixth-round pick in 2010.
2008
46 – Montreal traded its first-round pick (25th) and a second-round pick in 2009 to Calgary for Alex Tanguay and Calgary’s fifth-round spot (138th) in the 2008 draft.
2007
47 – Craig Rivet and Montreal’s fifth-round pick in 2008 were sent to the San Jose Sharks for Josh Gorges and San Jose’s first-round selection in the 2007 draft (22nd).
48 – The Washington Capitals gave up their right to select in their designated third-round position (65th) of the 2007 draft to Montreal in an acquisition for Richard Zednik.
49 – Montreal sent Mike Ribeiro and a 2008 six-round selection off to Dallas. The Canadiens received Janne Niinimaa and Dallas’ fifth-round pick in 2007 (142nd) in return.
50 – Montreal received a seventh-round pick (192nd) from the Carolina Hurricanes for goaltender Michael Leighton.
Mike Johnson came to Montreal from Phoenix for Montreal’s fourth-round pick in 2007.
Montreal used its seventh-round selection to acquire the rights of Ryan Russell from the New York Rangers.
2006
51 – Montreal traded down from 16th spot on the day of the 2006 draft to receive San Jose’s 20th overall selection as well as their second-round pick (53rd).
52 – The Philadelphia Flyers received the Chicago Blackhawks’ third-round pick in 2006 (66th) in a deal that included Patrick Sharp heading the other way. The Canadiens traded up to a better position in the third-round, receiving that pick from Philadelphia for Montreal’s third- (79th) and fourth-round (109th) selections.
The sixth-round pick assigned to Montreal was exchanged for Chicago Blackhawks’ defenceman Todd Simpson.
2005
53 – The Canadiens traded their second- (#56) and third-round pick (#66) to the New York Rangers to move up to the Rangers’ spot at #45.
54 – Montreal obtained a compensatory seventh-round pick (#229) after the New Jersey Devils signed Group III free agent Darren Langdon.