Chicago GM Kyle Davidson finally calls Bedard's name with first pick in the 2023 NHL Draft at Nashville. The slick 17-year-old center and hockey's next generational talent should expedite team's rebuild.
Editors Note: This story is republished from the night of June 28, 2023. Since the 2024 NHL Draft is on Friday, June 28 and Connor Bedard is the favorite to win the Calder Trophy on Thursday, June 27, we thought we'd look back at Bedard's first big NHL night.
Blackhawks fans were confident general manager Kyle Davidson would call Connor Bedard's name with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday night.
Some 5,000 of them at a watch party in Chicago roared with delight when Davidson finally did.
Then the crowd at the Salt Shed concert venue got quiet for a few seconds. But Bedard stood up, took off his suit jacket, went to the stage in Nashville and shook hands. When he donned a No. 98 red Blackhawks jersey, the roar in Chicago returned.
The Blackhawks rebuild just went into a much higher gear with Bedard, considered the NHL's most gifted first-round pick since Edmonton took Connor McDavid in 2015.
Bedard, still just 17, recorded 71 goals and 143 points in 57 regular-season games with the Regina Pats of the WHL in 2022-23 to lead all of Canadian major junior hockey in scoring. The native of North Vancouver, B.C. earned the Canadian Hockey League’s Player of the Year, Top Prospect and Top Scorer awards for the 2022-23 season, becoming the first player in CHL history to win all three in the same season.
The slick center with a killer shot led Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2023 World Junior Championship, leading all tournament players with nine goals, 14 assists and 23 points He also was named the International Ice Hockey Federation 2023 Male Player of the Year.
Bedard, from North Vancouver, B.C., still has to sign a $925,000 entry level contract and agree to a package of bonuses that will bring his overall rookie pay to roughly $4.45 million. But Blackhawks fans hope Bedard will do for their team what its only other first-round pick, Patrick Kane, did starting in 2007.
After Chicago netted the No. 1 selection in the May 8 NHL Draft Lottery, Hawks-haters and nervous fans took to Twitter and suggested Bedard might "pull a Lindros" and shun the team if it drafted him. In 1991, Eric Lindros, also billed as a next generational talent, refused to sign with the Québec Nordiques after they drafted him first overall.
That won't happen in Chicago.
“It’s a unbelievable feeling…to hear my name be called with such a storied organization," Bedard said. "Growing up, obviously that was when they were going on their runs, winning Cups, and I was watching a lot of them.
"You see the United Center going crazy and all of Chicago getting behind them. I really can't put it into words. I'm so excited to be part of the organization."
Davidson has stayed on message too, never mentioning Bedard by name as his top pick before Wednesday night.
The Blackhawks GM has always thought highly of Bedard, who's primed to become the foundation of — and catalyst for — his team.
"Everyone’s seen how he’s handled himself in the lead-up to this draft," Davidson told reporters in Nashville. "Obviously [he's gotten] a lot of attention, but he’s shown a maturity beyond his years. He’s 17 years old but you’d never know it based on how he’s handled things."
See pre-draft video of Davidson in Nashville at:
https://chicagoblackhawks.app.box.com/s/7o8q2m4qp2f3kxg50li2843k6wlvyu91
When asked if the Hawks have received any trade inquiries about the No. 1 pick, Davidson appropriately responded, "Nope."
Bedard has said "he still needs to make the team" in Chicago.
Assuming all goes to plan, Bedard will play his first regular-season NHL game on Oct. 10 at Pittsburgh and face Sidney Crosby, a future Hall-of-Fame center to whom he's been compared. Bedard will play his first home game against the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 21.
