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Tonight’s NHL schedule is not one that will have an outsized influence on the playoff races — the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Florida Panthers and the Anaheim Ducks head to Alberta to take on the Calgary Flames.
But all of these teams will play a role in the upcoming 2023 NHL draft lottery.
At this point, all four clubs are in the bottom 16, and eligible to move up in this summer’s draft. As of 2021, teams can move up only 10 spots, so the Flames won’t quite make it all the way to No. 1 should they win a drawing. As for the Panthers, their first-round pick belongs to the Montreal Canadiens as part of the trade for Ben Chiarot last season. For the Ducks and Blackhawks, however, a generational talent is atop the board for their potential selection should they win the lottery.
Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats is the eighth under-18 player in WHL history (and first in 24 years) to score 60 goals in a season, according to Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects. He led Canada to a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship (scoring beauties such as this one), and has essentially been the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 draft class for the past few years. He’s No.1 on the NHL central scouting bureau’s ranks, along with those from The Athletic’s Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler, Elite Prospects, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News and Chris Peters of FloSports.
“He’s almost magical,” TSN’s Craig Button told ESPN earlier this season. “I never thought I’d say that about him. He was quick and he was fast and he was allusive and everything. But he’s got a magical quality to him.”
Which team will get to draft him? Stay tuned the rest of the season to see which clubs put themselves in… ahem… the best position to win the lottery.
Note: Playoff chances are via FiveThirtyEight.
Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Today’s games
Last night’s scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1…
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