With Bedard on Chicago's roster already, there was less pressure on the Blackhawks and GM Kyle Davidson to come away with the No. 1 draft pick for a second straight year.

Macklin Celebrini, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, was called an "an NHL All-Star in the making" by Dan Marr, the league's central scouting director.

San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier all-but confirmed he'll draft Celebrini after securing the top selection in Tuesday's draft lottery.  Grier said Celebrini is "a 200-foot player, which is rare for someone who is as offensively gifted as he is" and "a real unique player at this stage.”

But as good as Celebrini is and will become, he's not billed as a "next generational talent" like Connor Bedard.

And that made it easier for Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson to settle for the No. 2 pick via the lottery in 2024 — a slot he called a "very big win." The rebuilding Blackhawks won the top pick and Bedard last season, and already have the 18-year-old forward securely in place as part of their foundation.

After Bedard led rookies with 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games last season, the Blackhawks are starting to fully realize what they have.

A Nail-Biter Last Year: Calmer In 2024

"I was way more nervous last year," Davidson said. "Winning last year and having that in our back pocket would make this year a little bit easier to navigate.

"To be honest, it didn't weigh on me that much," added Davidson, the NHL's youngest GM at 35 years old. "It did last year, it consumed everything I feel like we did, everything we talked about. And this year, you know, it was very exciting, but it was just different.

"There was just so much hype going into last year and it was just a different animal." See following video.

Last season, the Blackhawks won the lottery, despite having only 11.5% odds as the league's No. 30, or third-worst team. This year, Chicago finished straight in line with the No. 2 pick as the 31st place team.

When Tuesday's draft lottery got down to two teams, Davidson said he did have "flashbacks to last year" when the possible clubs in line for the top pick were Chicago and Anaheim.

But that was it.

"Maybe people think I'm lying, but No. 2 is a win," Davidson said. "We're really excited about that and to not fall (lower in the draft) and just kind of hold serve."

Davidson expects to get a "foundational piece" with the No. 2 selection. It just won't be Celebrini. See video.

Handicappers suggest the Blackhawks will take a very close look at Russian winger Ivan Demidov, who has been billed as the "next Nikita Kucherov."

Davidson, as usual, won't confirm that. He did say that it doesn't matter if a top prospect is from Russia or under contact to a KHL team for one more season, as Demidov is.

"You just have to do your fact-finding," Davidson said.  "I'm sure the Russian question is: 'Are you going to see them?' If you feel comfortable, they're just treated like any other player.

"But there's a lot of work to be done know that we know where we're picking."

Forward or Defenseman?

The Blackhawks have three promising defensemen — Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro and Nolan Allan — who are ready to graduate from the AHL to full-time NHL jobs. More D-men prospects, such as Sam Rinzel at the University of Minnesota, may not be far behind.

Talk is the Blackhawk need to beef up their forward ranks around Bedard. Short-term, that may be via additional free agent signings this summer.

But long-term, the second overall pick in 2024 may be a key tool.

"I think we're heavy on defense (in the system). I think we're heavy at forward," Davidson said. "I think we've done a really exciting job establishing depth in our prospect pool and that's important." See video.

Forwards Frank Nazar, rated Chicago's No. 2 prospect in THN's 2024 Future Watch, and Landon Slaggert made their NHL debuts at the end of the 2023-24 season. Speedy Oliver Moore, the No. 1 prospect in Future Watch, will return to the University of Minnesota next season where he's Rinzel's roommate.

Chicago also has the No. 20 pick in the 2024 draft. It came from Tampa Bay in the 2022 trade of Brandon Hagel to the Lightning.

"That's sort of lost in all of this, is that we've got No. 2," Davidson said."But we'll get a really nice player at 20 as well. So it's really exciting.

"When you get the GM job, that's what you think of, is building the teams."