2023 NHL Draft Lottery Blog: Blackhawks rebuild gets Bedard-sized boost

Are the Chicago Blackhawks back on the rise?

So much of the past season was about saying good-bye to co-franchise faces Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Now the Hawks usher in a new era of hockey in the city by winning the NHL Draft Lottery and the chance to select mega-prospect Connor Bedard with the first overall pick about seven weeks from now in Nashville.

Chicago entered the night with an 11.5 percent chance of getting Bedard — the third-best odds of any squad — and jumped both the Columbus Blue Jackets and the team that entered the night with roughly a one-in-four chance of getting Bedard, the last-place Anaheim Ducks.

When the dust settled, the top-3 order went Chicago, Anaheim, Columbus.

This marks the second time in the past 20 years the Ducks have been a bridesmaid in a lottery like this, as it came down to the wire between them and the Pittsburgh Penguins for Sidney Crosby in 2005. Crosby, of course, went to the Pens and the Ducks ended up with Bobby Ryan at No. 2.

As for the Blackhawks, they have certainly been eyeing this moment for a while. Under GM Kyle Davidson — who was hired in October of 2021 — the Blackhawks have been hard sellers, acquiring the draft capital they hope will pave the way for the long road back to being a championship-calibre team. Even young players with plenty of team control left like Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat have gone out the door in favour of futures. Of course, this year was marked by the trade deadline swap that sent Kane to the New York Rangers and the announcement that Toews, the team captain and pending-unrestricted free agent, would not be returning next year.

The Blackhawks — who haven't made the playoffs in a full NHL season since 2017 — made three selections in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft and hold two picks in the 2023 event. The plan was always to acquire as much high-end young talent as possible; now it's just gone to another level with the opportunity to select Bedard.

It's the bounce Davidson dreamed of, even if he was steeling himself for disappointment.

"I've been, for weeks now, just kind of mentally preparing for [picking fourth or fifth] just because that's what the odds said were going to happen," Davidson said after the lottery. "[I] prepared for that, but hoped for the best and things broke our way. Honestly, once we [were guaranteed a top-3 pick], I was calm at that point and then it was kind of all bonus from there."

It was 16 years ago that Chicago picked first overall for the first time in franchise history when it took Kane. The year prior, the squad had taken Toews third overall and those two — along with defenceman Duncan Keith — formed the core of a team that won three titles from 2010 through 2015.

Bedard has already drawn some comparisons to Kane due to their similar, slight builds and there's a decent chance Bedard will at least start his NHL career on the wing, where Kane has been racking up points for years.

Regardless of whether he lines up at centre or wing, the expectations on Bedard will be massive as he becomes the centrepiece of what Hawks fans hope will be another dynasty.

The Chicago Blackhawks win the draft lottery. In the same year they say good-bye to Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the Hawks will get a chance to start again with a new franchise face. The Ducks fall to No. 2, while the Columbus Blue Jackets will draft third.

It's been said numerous times that Adam Fantilli would go No. 1 overall most years. He played NCAA hockey at Michigan. Owen Power did, too, and he was the first Canadian picked No. 1 out of NCAA hockey since the mid-80s. The early favourite to go No. 1 in 2024, Mack Celebrini, is a B.C. boy who is headed to BU next year. This trend is a small part of a feature I wrote back in October about how NCAA hockey is attracting more and more Europeans and high-end Canadian players.