Draft Pick Landscape For 2022

This was a busy summer. With the 2020-21 season only getting underway in January, things got a little condensed in the offseason, what with an expansion draft to fit into the normal schedule. It feels as though the Stanley Cup was only awarded to the Tampa Bay Lightning a few weeks ago, and yet training camp is underway and regular season games will start before you know it. With that condensed, frenzied, transaction period, it’s easy to have missed some of the moves that teams made to prepare their organization moving forward.

Many of those deals had implications that will reach far beyond 2021-22. In particular, next summer’s draft has already been affected drastically, with high picks flying around the league. That could spell disaster or jubilance depending on how the season plays out and how the lottery balls fall, as there is quite the prize coming for the team that selects first overall in 2022.

Shane Wright, who became the fifth player to be granted exceptional status in the OHL and started his rookie season with the Kingston Frontenacs at age-15, is the no-doubt choice at the top of the draft. Now 17, he’s ranked as the top available prospect by basically every list, and Bob McKenzie’s scout poll recently suggested that he would have gone first overall in the 2021 draft as well, had he been eligible. There’s a lot to like about the potential first-line, franchise-defining centerman, even though he won’t turn 18 until January.

As any year beyond that first spot though, there is still plenty of talent to be accrued in the other rounds. That’s where you’ll see most of the draft pick movement through trade anyway, as teams throw around mid- and late-round picks for depth players or as add-ons in bigger deals. So who is heading into 2022 with a leg up on the competition already? Here is how the draft pick landscape sits right now:

Anaheim Ducks – 6 picks

1st (ANA)
2nd (ANA)
4th (ANA)
5th (ANA)
5th (TOR)
6th (NSH)

Arizona Coyotes – 12 picks

1st (ARI)
1st (COL)
1st (MTL)*
2nd (ARI)
2nd (NYI)
2nd (PHI)
2nd (SJS)
2nd (VAN)
3rd (ARI)
4th (ARI)
5th (ARI)
6th (ARI)

*Better of MON/CAR 2022 1sts unless top-10, then worse of MON/CAR 2022 1sts

Boston Bruins – 7 picks

1st (BOS)
2nd (BOS)
3rd (CGY)
4th (BOS)
5th (BOS)
6th (BOS)
7th (BOS)

Buffalo Sabres – 8 picks

1st (BUF)
1st (FLA)*
2nd (BUF)
3rd (BUF)
4th (BUF)
5th (NJD)
6th (BUF)
7th (BUF)

*If top-10, Florida will send 2023 1st instead

Calgary Flames – 5 picks

1st (CGY)
2nd (CGY)
2nd (FLA)
5th (CGY)
7th (CGY)

Carolina Hurricanes – 8 picks

2nd (CAR)
3rd (CHI)
4th (CAR)
5th (CAR)
6th (CAR)
6th (ANA)
7th (CAR)
7th (CBJ)

Chicago Blackhawks – 8 picks

2nd (CHI)
3rd (EDM)*
3rd (TOR)
3rd (VGK)
4th (CHI)
6th (CHI)
6th (CBJ)
7th (CHI)

*Could upgrade to 2022 2nd (EDM)

Colorado Avalanche – 4 picks

3rd (COL)
5th (COL)
6th (COL)
7th (COL)

Columbus Blue Jackets – 8 picks

1st (CBJ)
1st (CHI)*
2nd (CBJ)
3rd (TBL)
4th (CBJ)
4th (TOR)
6th (TOR)
7th (ANA)

*If first or second overall, CHI gives up 2023 pick instead

Dallas Stars – 7 picks

1st (DAL)
2nd (DAL)
3rd (DAL)
4th (DAL)
5th (DAL)
6th (DAL)
7th (DAL)

Detroit Red Wings – 9 picks

1st (DET)
2nd (DET)
2nd (WSH)
3rd (DET)
4th (DET)
4th (COL)
4th (VGK)
5th (DET)
7th (DET)

Edmonton Oilers – 5 picks

1st (EDM)
2nd (EDM)*
5th (EDM)
6th (EDM)
7th (EDM)

*Could be sent instead of 2022 3rd (EDM)

Florida Panthers – 6 picks

3rd (FLA)
4th (FLA)
5th (FLA)
6th (FLA)
6th (CGY)
7th (FLA)

Los Angeles Kings – 7 picks

1st (LAK)
2nd (LAK)
3rd (PIT)
4th (LAK)
5th (LAK)
6th (LAK)
7th (LAK)

Minnesota Wild – 7 picks

1st (MIN)
2nd (MIN)
3rd (MIN)
4th (MIN)
5th (MIN)
5th (SJS)
6th (MIN)

Montreal Canadiens – 11 picks

1st (CAR)*
2nd (MTL)
3rd (MTL)
3rd (ANA)
3rd (CAR)
4th (MTL)
4th (TBL)
5th (MTL)
6th (MTL)
7th (MTL)
7th (STL)

*Will send better of MON/CAR unless top-10, then worse of MON/CAR

Nashville Predators – 7 picks

1st (NSH)
2nd (NSH)
3rd (NSH)
3rd (LAK)
4th (NSH)
5th (NSH)
7th (NSH)

New Jersey Devils – 9 picks

1st (NJD)
2nd (NJD)
3rd (NJD)
4th (NJD)
4th (EDM)
4th (NYI)
5th (CBJ)
6th (NJD)
7th (NJD)

New York Islanders – 5 picks

1st (NYI)
2nd (COL)*
3rd (NYI)
5th (NYI)
6th (NYI)

*Arizona receives better of NYI/COL 2022 2nds

New York Rangers – 7 picks

1st (NYR)
2nd (NYR)
2nd (STL)
4th (NYR)
4th (WPG)
5th (NYR)
6th (NYR)

Ottawa Senators – 11 picks

1st (OTT)
2nd (OTT)
2nd (TBL)
3rd (OTT)
3rd (BOS)
3rd (VAN)
5th (OTT)
6th (OTT)
7th (OTT)
7th (NYI)
7th (SJS)

Philadelphia Flyers – 6 picks

1st (PHI)
3rd (PHI)
4th (PHI)
5th (PHI)
6th (PHI)
7th (PHI)

Pittsburgh Penguins – 6 picks

1st (PIT)
2nd (PIT)
4th (PIT)
5th (PIT)
6th (PIT)
7th (PIT)

San Jose Sharks – 7 picks

1st (SJS)
3rd (SJS)
4th (SJS)
5th (BUF)
6th (SJS)
7th (ARI)
7th (MIN)

Seattle Kraken – 8 picks

1st (SEA)
2nd (SEA)
3rd (SEA)
4th (SEA)
4th (CGY)
5th (SEA)
6th (SEA)
7th (SEA)

St. Louis Blues – 6 picks

1st (STL)
3rd (STL)
4th (STL)
4th (OTT)*
5th (STL)
6th (STL)

*Only transfers to St. Louis if Logan Brown plays fewer than 30 regular season games in 2021-22

Tampa Bay Lightning – 6 picks

1st (TBL)
5th (TBL)
6th (TBL)
6th (DET)
7th (TBL)
7th (NYR)

Toronto Maple Leafs – 3 picks

1st (TOR)
2nd (TOR)
7th (TOR)*

*Will transfer to Minnesota if Brennan Menell plays 30 games in 2021-22

Vancouver Canucks – 6 picks

1st (VAN)
3rd (WPG)
4th (VAN)
5th (VAN)
6th (VAN)
7th (VAN)

Vegas Golden Knights – 7 picks

1st (VGK)
2nd (VGK)
3rd (NYR)
5th (VGK)
5th (CHI)
6th (VGK)
7th (VGK)

Washington Capitals – 7 picks

1st (WSH)
2nd (WPG)
3rd (WSH)
4th (WSH)
5th (WSH)
6th (WSH)
7th (WSH)

Winnipeg Jets – 5 picks

1st (WPG)
3rd (CBJ)
5th (WPG)
6th (WPG)
7th (WPG)