Philadelphia Flyers

Blackhawks win the Bedard draft lottery; Flyers stay 7th

Published

1 year ago

May 8, 2023

Chuck Bausman

Connor Bedard

The odds were too long. In Philly, we can’t have nice things. The Flyers have forever angered the hockey gods since the Broad Street Bullies days.

Whatever the reason, the Flyers had no luck in the Connor Bedard draft lottery Monday night. But the Chicago Blackhawks had all the luck.

Going into the lottery, the Flyers only had a 6.5 percent chance of landing the Vancouver native. They came up empty, remaining in the seventh spot they earned from their regular-season play. The Flyers had a 44.4 percent chance of staying in seventh. The didn’t move up or down.

The Flyers had a 6.7 percent chance of moving up to the No. 2 spot, according to Tankathon.com. The Flyers also could have dropped to eighth (36.5 percent chance) or ninth (5.6 percent chance).

When the Flyers were announced as the seventh pick, all hope was gone to land Bedard or even expected No. 2 pick Adam Fantilli, of the University of Michigan.

The Blackhawks won the NHL Draft lottery giving them the right to select the next great player in Bedard. Chicago was slotted at No. 3, with an 11.5 percent chance of winning the lottery. The team with the best odds, Anaheim at 18.5 percent, dropped to No. 2.

Landing a player like Bedard instantly changes the fortunes of a franchise. Every Blackhawks employee will feel the excitement. Players doing their offseason training might push a little harder knowing they will be teammates with a potential superstar.

On-ice, the team is better. Off-ice, Bedard jerseys will fly off store shelves. Online sales will explode.

Ticket sales will boom. Season-ticket packages will be eagerly purchased.

Bedard, 17, is 5-foot-10, 185 pounds. He’s not going to overpower opponents. Bedard is known for a wicked wrist shot, skating ability and smart, intuitive play.

He was the No. 1-ranked prospect by just about everybody who does such rankings — easily the most talented player to hit the draft since Connor McDavid in 2015.

The NHL Draft is June 28-29 in Nashville.

Here is the draft order:

Chicago Blackhawks
Anaheim Ducks
Columbus Blue Jackets
San Jose Sharks
Montreal Canadiens
Arizona Coyotes
Flyers
Washington Capitals
Detroit Red Wings
St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
Arizona Coyotes (from Ottawa)
Buffalo Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins
Nashville Predators
Calgary Flames

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Superunoriginal

1 year ago

While I didn’t expect the Flyers to get Bedard, I was hoping that ANYONE but the Blackhawks would get him. Was Patrick Kane a generational talent? Not on the level of Crosby or McDavid, but he did win three cups and beat the Flyers. That was painful on so many levels.

Credit to the Blackhawks, though (ugh), they realized they weren’t in a condition to compete and, looking to the long term, not only traded away their best player over the last 15 years, but also their present and future in DeBrincat and Kirby Dach for a better future. Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard come 2023 and 2024.

Meanwhile, the Flyers doubled down on Risto and DeAngelo–and are also overpaying on…take your pick: Hayes, Provorov, Sanheim, Couturier, Atkinson, and Ellis. DeBrincat was arguably better than anyone on the Flyers’ roster and the Blackhawks gambled on a better future.

I think Briere will be better than Fletcher, but he’s not in a good situation. Lacking in picks, cap space, talent, depth, youth…he needs to basically dump everything for picks and cap space and manage this franchise like an expansion team–which have experienced far more success than the Flyers over the last ten years. More picks don’t equate with more talent, but they’re viewed as investments in something this organization is lacking: hope and a future.