The Montreal Canadiens are no stranger to heading into the NHL Draft with a double-digit number of picks. They’ve outdone themselves this year, holding 11 picks on the morning before the first round of a virtual event gets under way.
How many of those picks Marc Bergevin actually uses on new prospects remains to be seen. There are a lot of young players in the system already, so stockpiling isn’t as critical as it has been for the past two years. It’s also true that he amassed many of these 2020 picks expecting the draft to be held at his home venue in Montreal, and could very well decide to move as many picks to next year as possible, hoping to be the major player in the next full, in-person draft.
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EOTP’s 2020 NHL Draft Rankings
The Habs won’t be the only ones making moves. Not only is it a stacked opening round of strong prospects that teams will be fighting over, but the pandemic has reduced budgets around the league, and contracts need to be shifted around to meet official, or internal, salary caps ahead of the 2020-21 season.
Bergevin is on record saying he’s willing to part with the 16th overall pick if one of those established players who needs to be moved fits into the plan for his NHL roster. Montreal hasn’t made such a move since 2008, always making a first-round pick in the years since (the organization did trade up in 2010 to select Jarred Tinordi), so it would be a significant departure from their usual plan. We should expect to see a lot of that in this unique NHL off-season.
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2020 NHL Draft – Eyes On The Prize
How to watch
Round 1
Date: Tuesday, October 6
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
TV Channel: Sportsnet, TVA Sports (Canada), NBCSN (USA)
Online stream: Sportsnet Now
Rounds 2-7
Date: Wednesday, October 7
Start time: 11:30 AM EDT / 8:30 AM PDT
TV Channel: Sportsnet One (Canada), NHL Network (USA)
Online stream: Sportsnet Now
First round order
- New York Rangers *
- Los Angeles Kings **
- Ottawa Senators (via San Jose Sharks ***)
- Detroit Red Wings
- Ottawa Senators
- Anaheim Ducks
- New Jersey Devils
- Buffalo Sabres
- Minnesota Wild
- Winnipeg Jets
- Nashville Predators
- Florida Panthers
- Carolina Hurricanes (via Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Edmonton Oilers
- Toronto Maple Leafs (via Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Montreal Canadiens
- Chicago Blackhawks
- New Jersey Devils (via Arizona Coyotes)
- Calgary Flames
- New Jersey Devils (via Vancouver Canucks by way of Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New York Rangers (via Carolina Hurricanes)
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Washington Capitals
- Colorado Avalanche
- St. Louis Blues
- Anaheim Ducks (via Boston Bruins)
- Ottawa Senators (via New York Islanders)
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Dallas Stars
- San Jose Sharks (via Tampa Bay Lightning)
* won Phase 2 draft lottery
** won 2nd Lottery Draw in Phase 1
*** won 3rd Lottery Draw in Phase 1
