NHL Draft Draws Record TV Ratings — Plus Other Draft Factoids

The 2023 NHL Draft was the most watched in history. The event was must-see with generational talent Connor Bedard going No. 1 overall.

Matvei Michkov’s  selection provided the most suspense. He lasted six picks before the Philadelphia Flyers drafted him at 7.

These two monumental draft picks were seen by an average of 681,000 viewers, according to ESPN. Average viewership increased 49 percent compared with last year. Average viewership for adults (age 18-49) was 326,000, up 63 percent from last year.

ESPN said total viewership peaked at 903,000, which happened in the first quarter-hour when Bedard was selected by the Blackhawks.

Positions By The Numbers

The draft had other interesting numbers. Here is the breakdown by position of the 224 drafted players (stats courtesy of the NHL):

Defensemen: 69

Centers: 63

Right wings: 34

Left wings: 32

Goaltenders: 26

The last time this many goalies were taken was in 2018, when 29 goalies were drafted. The Flyers selected goaltenders on back-to-back picks — Connor Bjarnason at 51, and Egor Zavragin at 87.

Countries By The Numbers

Canada had the most players drafted, with the United States second.

Canada: 86

United States: 50

Sweden: 24

Russia: 19

Finland: 15

Czechia: 7

Slovakia: 7

Belarus: 5

Germany: 4

Kazakhstan: 1

France: 1

Switzerland: 1

Norway: 1

Italy: 1

Denmark: 1

Austria: 1

Fourteen players were drafted in the first round from outside North America, the fourth-highest ever.

The Flyers drafted six Canadians, two Russians, one American and one Slovakian.

Leagues By The Numbers

Here is the breakdown of the drafted players, by league. In all, players from 36 leagues were drafted.

USHL (including U.S. National Team Development Program): 39

Ontario Hockey League: 35

Western Hockey League: 33

Sweden Jr.: 22

Russia Jr. (MHL): 15

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: 12

Finland Jr.: 11

British Columbia Hockey League: 4

Big Ten: 4

Finland (Liiga): 4

Minnesota High School: 4

KHL (Russia): 4

Sweden (SHL): 4

The Flyers drafted from the Kontinental Hockey League (1), Ontario Hockey League (2), MHL, Russia (1),Western Hockey League (2), USHL (1), Allsvenskan, Sweden, (1), Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (1), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (1).

All In The Family

The Flyers drafted three players whose fathers played in the NHL. First-round pick Oliver Bonk (Radek), fourth-round pick Alex Ciernik (Ivan) and fourth-rounder Cole Knuble (Mike). The father of Matteo Mann, the Flyers’ seventh-round pick, Trent Mann is the assistant general manager of the Ottawa Senators.

The Rangers drafted Gabe Perrault in the first round. His father Yanic played in the NHL and his older brother Jacob was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2020.

Tampa Bay selected Ethan Gauthier, whose father Denis played 10 seasons in the NHL. Boston drafted Beckett Hendrickson, whose father Darby played 10 NHL seasons and is an assistant coach for the Wild.

Bedard Note

Bedard is the third player from the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats to be drafted No. 1 overall. The others were Greg Joly (1974, Capitals) and Doug Wickenheiser (1980, Canadiens).