It happened.
The best-case scenario for the Chicago Blackhawks unfolded on Monday night with the awarding of the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and the now incredible, inevitable reality of Connor Bedard heading to 1901 W. Madison Street next month.
Yeah, Kyle Davidson was pretty thrilled:
Kyle Davidson’s reaction pic.twitter.com/z1IoGP7BX4
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) May 9, 2023
Kyle Davidson: "When that #1 card flipped over and it was our logo, it hits you all at once."
Said he'd mentally prepared himself for 4th or 5th because of the odds.
"Haven't fully processed what just happened."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) May 9, 2023
The Blackhawks’ fan base processed what just happened and reacted quickly:
The Blackhawks have already sold $2.5 million worth of season-ticket plans for 2023-24 in the 1.5 hours since winning the #1 pick — including more than 500 new full-season plans.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) May 9, 2023
Here are the extremely specific details on how the pick ended up in the Blackhawks’ favor:
The lottery chart showed that the @NHLBlackhawks had been assigned the numbers (4-5-9-13) that were expelled in the first drawing, followed by the @AnaheimDucks (6-8-9-10) in the second drawing.
And that, kids, is how Connor Bedard became a Blackhawk. (Officially speaking) pic.twitter.com/5yF6RMk4IR
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 9, 2023
The good news traveled fast, too:
I kid you not — the White Sox fans here at Kauffman are celebrating the Blackhawks getting the No. 1 pick. There actually was a brief "Let's go Blackhawks" chant in the stands and numerous hugs
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 9, 2023
The #Blackhawks have the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft! pic.twitter.com/36VoQoBUjn
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 9, 2023
There’s more from Davidson in the tweets and the article below, but the second tweet from Ben Pope of the Sun-Times is particularly interesting:
Interesting tidbit in here: Davidson mentioned getting this potentially could prompt him to look into packaging some of the Hawks’ other picks (four 2nds and two 3rds) to move up, now that they don’t have to rely on volume quite so much.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) May 9, 2023
The Blackhawks now have the No. 1 pick but also own the Tampa Bay Lightning’s first-round pick in the 2023 draft as a result of the Brandon Hagel trade, and that pick could move up to No. 19 if the Florida Panthers reach the Eastern Conference Final (oh, and they’re up 3-0 on the Toronto Maple Leafs in that series). So factoring in that quartet of second-round picks and pair of third-round picks provides Davidson plenty of opportunities to move up or down, should he wish do to do so. That’ll be something to monitor as the NHL Draft arrives later next month.
More in the morning.
It’s Connor Bedard time.
