The Blackhawks won the NHL Draft lottery on Monday for just the second time in franchise history and will own the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. Or, better put: The right to draft Connor Bedard.
Bedard is a generational-type talent and arguably the best draft-eligible prospect since Connor McDavid, who was taken first overall by Edmonton in 2015. He is the definition of a player you want to build around.
Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson understands the weight of getting a player like that, and it's why he "blacked out" when his team jumped from third to first.
"I think I just said, 'Wow,' Davidson said. "You understand the impact that a first overall pick can have and having the first overall pick in the right year. Hopefully that’s what we’ve got here and it can change a franchise, it can change a city and it can change an era in a team’s history. So, there’s a lot of weight to that and a lot of significance to that."
Heck, the Blackhawks are already feeling the effects of it, both on and off the ice.
According to Darren Rovell, the Blackhawks sold $1.9 million in season tickets within the first hour of landing the No. 1 overall pick. Bedard will immediately make the Blackhawks watchable, and they will surely see a spike in attendance as soon as next season.
"When that No. 1 card flipped over and it was our logo, it hits you all at once," Davidson said. "Because you think about it in the lead-up and you think about what could be and you don’t let yourself go there that often because chances were we weren’t going to see that come to fruition. When our logo flipped over, I was just, 'Wow.'
NHL
"This is well-documented that this is a pretty special draft and we’re going to be able to pick at the top of it. We’re going to be able to pick who we want and we don’t have to wait for anyone else to dictate our fortunes. So it’s exciting. It’s exciting and it’s still sinking in and not having fully processed what just happened, but it’s really exciting."
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