When Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes stepped to the podium inside the team’s home Bell Centre arena to announce the player he would be selecting with the first overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the overwhelming majority of those watching believed it would be Canadian pivot Shane Wright whose name he called. In fact, a large number of Habs fans attending the draft had custom-made shirts proclaiming their opinion that he was indeed the “Wright choice”. We all know what happened next, right? Kent Hughes announced his pick as being big Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky instead of Wright, sending noticeable shockwaves throughout the crowd. It had been awhile since there was some legitimate intrigue involving the eventual top draft choice, with the Nico Hischier versus Nolan Patrick debate in 2017 perhaps the most recent. There was no such mystery in 2023, though, as the 18-year old phenom at the very top had already solidified his spot years ago.
Welcome to the second instalment of my Top of the Class series where I break down each year’s eventual number one overall NHL draft selection. My first instalment, a feature on Juraj Slafkovsky, was not the article I had been expecting to publish as Shane Wright had been my number one ranked 2022-eligible prospect from the start of the season until its inevitable conclusion. Connor Bedard was also ranked number one here at The Draft Report for the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign, but the Chicago Blackhawks certainly weren’t going to pass up the future face of their franchise and stun the crowd like Montreal did. So how’d we get here? And what’s next? Read on to find out.
FIRST OVERALL PICK (2023)
Connor Bedard ,C, Chicago Blackhawks
Bedard emerged as the clear favourite to go number one overall in the 2023 draft when he became the first WHLer to be granted exceptional player status by the CHL in 2020 and then went on to dominate the league as a 15-year old rookie during the shortened season, and he only further cemented that status with each passing performance over the next two years. There was the 51 goals and 100 points he produced for the Regina Pats as a 16-year old in 2021-22. The back to back U20 World Juniors gold medals he won with Team Canada, with the latter featuring the single greatest showing by a draft eligible player in history. Or I could mention the 71 goals and 143 points he racked up in just 57 WHL games last season, an average of 2.51 points-per-game. There were so many outstanding accomplishments and historic moments for Connor Bedard prior to the draft it’s hard to even keep track of them all. But now he must prepare for a totally unique challenge where true greatness is defined forever: the National Hockey League.
The general projections for his debut season in the NHL have Bedard finishing in the 35-goal, 70-point range. He won’t have a lot of talent around him to play with, besides a past-his-prime Taylor Hall and an unproven Lukas Reichel, so opposing clubs can therefore focus most of their attention on shutting him down specifically. While this could potentially cut into his numbers, it’s also nothing new for the young phenom. In Regina he carried the bulk of their offense singlehandedly and yet still managed to put up ridiculous totals. If there is one 18-year old prospect who has the ability to defy the odds and exceed expectations, it is Connor Bedard. Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him in the 40-plus goal, 90-plus point range right off the bat. His two closest comparables, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, both completed their rookie seasons with well over a point-per-game production and Bedard should be no different. Doubters point at his size and question whether he can withstand the rigours of the big leagues, but here’s a fact that never seems to get mentioned: during Crosby’s draft year he was listed at 5’10” and 180 lbs., whereas Bedard was listed at 5’10” and 185 lbs. They have similarly massive lower bodies as well, and do you think the criticisms of Crosby’s size have held up? I didn’t think so.
What will he look like at his peak in a few years time? Will he be putting up 150-point campaigns like McDavid? Or will he be a 200-ft. beast and natural born winner like Crosby? My guess is that he ends up a different player entirely. Of the three, there is no question that Connor Bedard is the best pure goal scorer. I would argue that Crosby and McDavid are slightly better playmakers, though. Perhaps we see Bedard produce multiple 70-goal seasons and threaten to one day surpass Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin as the all-time leader in snipes. I think it’s safe to assume he will win multiple Maurice Richards, Art Rosses and Hart Trophies before he hangs up the skates. What we do know, for sure, is that stunning athletic talents of his caliber only come around a few times during one’s lifespan, and it’s best to enjoy it while it lasts.
The Draft Report 