It's No. 1 Connor Bedard versus No. 2 Leo Carlsson

Chicago's Connor Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, will skate against Anaheim middleman and No 2 selection Leo Carlsson for the first time on Thursday night when the Blackhawks host the Ducks at the United Center.

Both 18-year-olds have been producing, although their styles are different.

Bedard is crafty shooter and playmaker who's learning to adapt his dynamic style from junior hockey to an NHL pace — and tighter time and space limits. He leads all rookie scorers with 11 goals and 20 points, as well as 74 shots on goal in 24 games.

"He's a young player learning," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said after reviewing some of Bedard's plays that didn't work in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout loss to Nashville. "He gets on the board and for the video clips for the team, both good and bad, just like everybody else."

Bedard has just one goal and three assists in his last seven games. But the 5-foot-10 North Vancouver, British Columbia native has been firing away, with 26 shots on goal and attempting 21 more that were blocked or missed the net during the span.

Bedard is a minus-14 on Chicago, in last place in the NHL standings at 7-16-1. The Blackhawks have a minus-30 goal differential.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Carlsson, considers himself more of a two-way forward who's strong in all three zones. Carlsson, from Karlstad, Sweden, has eight goals and 13 points in 17 games.

He's a minus-3 on the 10-15-0 Ducks, who have scored 69 goals while allowing 87.

Carlsson enters with goals in back-to-back games against Colorado and four points in his last three contests.

Bedard and Carlsson have been used differently by their teams, too.

Bedard has been slotted as the Blackhawks' No. 1 center since the start of the season. He's on the ice a lot, especially when scoring is a priority, and averaging 19:29 of ice time per game — the most of any rookie forward.

Bedard skated 22 minutes through overtime against Nashville on Tuesday. He scored his on his first shootout attempt in the NHL, but all three Predators shooters connected to give Nashville the win in the tiebreaker. 

The Ducks have limited Carlsson's ice time to ease him into the NHL. He's averaged 18 minutes per game as his workload has increased recently, but has sat out eight contests so far.

Both Bedard and Carlsson need to work on faceoffs. Bedard is up to 41.1% on winning draws. Carlsson is at 31.8%.

“I’m actually really interested, from a spectator standpoint, to see them go head-to-head,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.