“I’ve said 100 times, no one knows who’s going No. 1,” the 17-year-old center with Regina of the Western Hockey League said in April. “I think, for the lottery, I’ll watch it as a fan. If I am fortunate enough to go No. 1, that’s awesome. But there are so many great players in the draft and I’m sure the team that gets that spot or the top pick will be looking at a bunch of guys and have a tough decision with this talent in the draft.”
The lottery will set the order for the first 16 picks for the clubs that failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 2023 draft is scheduled to be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The first round will be held June 28, with rounds 2-7 on June 29.
There will be two lottery drawings, one for the No. 1 pick and one for the No. 2 pick.
Teams only can move up 10 selections if it wins one of the lottery draws. Only the top 11 teams in the lottery are eligible to receive the No. 1 selection in the 2023 draft.
Once the two top picks have been established, the remaining teams will be assigned picks Nos. 3-16 based on inverse order of the final regular-season standings.
The Anaheim Ducks, who finished last in the NHL standings (23-47-12), will have the best odds of winning the No. 1 pick at 18.5 percent.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, who were 31st in the standings (25-48-9), will have the second-best odds at 13.5 percent, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks (26-49-7) at 11.5 percent.
The Arizona Coyotes will have two picks, their own as well as the Ottawa Senators’ selection, which was acquired as part of the trade for defenseman Jakob Chychrun on March 1. However, if the Senators pick is in the top five, it would stay with Ottawa and Arizona instead would receive the Senators’ unprotected first-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Bedard (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) led the WHL with 143 points (71 goals, 72 assists) in 57 games with Regina. He also had 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists), including six multipoint games, in Regina’s seven-game loss to Saskatoon in the first round of the WHL playoffs. He was the first WHL player since 2012 to score at least 10 goals in a playoff series.
“It’d be awesome if I went No. 1, but I think whether you get drafted first or whatever round, it’s a dream come true, and if I if I get that honor it’d be unreal,” Bedard said. “I’d be super grateful to the people who have helped me with that. But for me, it’s just kind of focusing on what I can do now to improve myself as a player. It’d be unbelievable to go No. 1, but we’ll see what happens obviously.”
Bedard also helped Canada win the gold medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in January with a tournament-best 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in seven games. It’s the most points ever for a Canada player and the fourth-most by any player in WJC history.
“On the ice, you don’t often get a player that puts you on the edge of your seat once, twice or more each game,” NHL Central Scouting vice president Dan Marr told the “NHL Draft Class” podcast on April 18. “The other aspect is that when he does make the odd mistake or things don’t go right, he’s got the wits about him to correct that. You don’t often see the same mistake happen twice and don’t often see the same play not completed twice because he’s got that ability just to make that correction.
“Off the ice, it’s the way he carries himself. He’s right at the top as being one of the more humble and most decent players I’ve come across. We’ve got a very special player coming into the National Hockey League.”
The teams who don’t get the first pick still will have plenty of talent to choose from, including University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the best NCAA men’s hockey player this season. The 18-year-old led NCAA players with 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) in 36 games and helped Michigan reach the Frozen Four.
“I can’t recall a player that’s entered the NCAA, performed to the degree that he has, and come away with winning the league championship, making it to the Frozen Four and winning the Hobey Baker,” Marr said. “It’s like he was on a mission this season and it was just so impressive. He deserves to be where he’s ranked for us, and he deserves to go as high as he can in the draft.”
Bedard and Fantilli are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters presented by BioSteel.
The two top players on Central Scouting’s final ranking of International skaters also are expected to be top-five picks: forward Leo Carlsson of Orebro in the Swedish Hockey League and forward Matvei Michkov of SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League.
The Montreal Canadiens won the 2022 draft lottery and selected forward Juraj Slafkovsky with the No. 1 pick of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Odds to win the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery:
Anaheim Ducks 18.5 percent
Columbus Blue Jackets 13.5 percent
Chicago Blackhawks 11.5 percent
San Jose Sharks 9.5 percent
Montreal Canadiens 8.5 percent
Arizona Coyotes 7.5 percent
Philadelphia Flyers 6.5 percent
Washington Capitals 6.0 percent
Detroit Red Wings 5.0 percent
St. Louis Blues 3.5 percent
Vancouver Canucks 3.0 percent
Arizona Coyotes (from Ottawa Senators) 2.5 percent
Buffalo Sabres 2.0 percent
Pittsburgh Penguins 1.5 percent
Nashville Predators 0.5 percent
Calgary Flames 0.5 percent
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