Monday night was the NHL draft lottery, a method of selecting the top 16 draft picks that discourages tanking or intentionally losing games in order to receive a better draft pick. The Chicago Blackhawks came out on top, taking the 1st overall pick in the upcoming draft with the 3rd best odds.

The last Blackhawks season was rough, with a record of 26-49-7 the Hawks finished 29th of 32 teams in the NHL as well as losing franchise players, Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews. It was looking like salt in the wound of a rough stretch for the Hawks as they haven’t made playoffs since 2017 with the exclusion of the 24 team playoff in 2020. With an 11.5% chance at the first overall pick, luck was with Chicago last night as they won in what could be defined as a “franchise altering moment”.

Blackhawks’ general manager Kyle Davidson states that, “I couldn’t really believe it… we’re banking on [draft pick] 4 or 5 and planning accordingly… I’m just really happy for everybody in the organization and the city.” With the first pick secured the question now is who the Hawks will select with the pick, however it appears that may not be too complicated of a question after all.

Although we will have to wait for draft day for the official announcement, all signs point to the Hawks selecting prospect Connor Bedard from the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of 3 major junior leagues in Canada. Bedard has been putting up numbers that have been unheard of since Wayne Gretzky, some of his more impressive stats including

• 143 points in 57 games in 2022-2023 (71 goals and 72 assists)
• 23 points in 7 games at 2023 World Junior Championship (9 goals and 14 assists)
• 2021 and 2023 World Junior Championship Champion
• Youngest player to hit 50 goals in WHL history
• Youngest player to record a 4 goal game in World Junior Championship history

With all the hype surrounding this kid, it’s all but finalized he will end up in Chicago.

After the reveal of the draft order, Kyle Davidson refused to make any comments regarding Bedard specifically, but did state, “You [Blackhawks] are going to get an elite player, this draft especially when you’re talking about the top of this draft is filled with elite players and we’re going to get that.”