While fans of the top 16 of the league’s 32 teams have spent the last month or so watching the playoffs, fans of the bottom 16 teams have all been eagerly awaiting the draft lottery. This event is the single best chance most teams ever have at landing truly elite talent and turning around the fortunes of their franchise.
Just look at the impact in Edmonton since they won the 2015 draft lottery and earned the right to select Connor McDavid, or the New Jersey Devils since selecting first in both 2017 and 2019, landing Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes respectively. Winning the draft lottery and selecting first or second overall is the biggest wildcard for every rebuilding team in the NHL, it completely changes your outlook and accelerates any timeline you may have prepared.
Now that the dust has settled a little bit on the draft lottery and the Chicago Blackhawks’ lottery win, let’s take a look at the fit for Bedard in Chicago and what he could mean for this team going forward.
Blackhawks Win the Bedard Sweepstakes
Don’t let anyone tell you tanking doesn’t work. Just 10 months after dealing Alex Debrincat and Kirby Dach in the leadup to the 2022 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks put together one of the most remarkable (read: embarrassing) years in recent memory. They iced lineups that were borderline unwatchable at times, with one clear goal all year, Connor Bedard.
Related: 2023 NHL Draft Guide
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I’ll give credit where it is due to Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson who has quickly turned around the future of this team in a matter of months, adding some excellent prospects in the 2022 Draft (Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, Ryan Greene, etc.), making big trades for futures, and for trading away nearly anyone with a pulse at the trade deadline for a significant haul in return. This team was going to be set up well for the future whether they won the lottery or not. I also want to shout out the players and coaching staff of the Blackhawks, who were put in some un-enviable positions this year and fought and clawed their way to a half-respectable record by season’s end.
Alright, so with that out of the way, this is an absolutely massive win for the Blackhawks, just as the final remaining members of their 2010’s dynasty (Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews) are on their way out. Bedard is going to be the next…
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