Draft: Bedard 1st, Carlsson 2nd

It’s a done deal, ladies and gentlemen.

We’ve been talking about it for weeks and weeks. The Chicago Blackhawks have made their choice…

And as expected, Connor Bedard has been selected with the very first pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft:

Unsurprisingly, Connor Bedard is the Chicago Blackhawks’ selection at #1 in the NHL Draft! 👏 pic.twitter.com/f9m9dCZYQZ

– RDS (@RDSca) June 28, 2023

Is this a surprise in itself? I’ll let you answer that question.

Bedard, who will celebrate his 18th birthday in July, joins the Chicago organization. Everyone will agree that he’ll be playing in the big leagues, starting next year. Yesterday, the Hawks acquired Taylor Hall to complement Bedard in his first year in the big league…

A transaction I really like in field hockey terms.

After all that, it will be interesting to see how Bedard adapts to the National League. Everyone knows: he dominated in junior and he dominated the competition at the recent World Junior Championship.

The successes of these youngsters don’t always translate to the NHL… But hey. It would be a little crazy to think that this will be the case with Bedard. He has all the tools he needs to become an NHL superstar.

The kid’s gonna be good. In fact, he’s likely to be excellent… Or even more than excellent. The Blackhawks and their fans can rejoice.

Leo Carlsson selected second overall

The Ducks kept us in suspense until the very end. There was talk of them selecting Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov or Leo Carlsson…

And their choice finally came down to Leo Carlsson.

More details to come…