Conor Bedard (18) from Canada, the country of ice hockey, is the first overall pick in the NHL (North American Ice Hockey League) rookie draft to be held this year.
He showed overwhelming skills at the Under-20 World Championship held last January and led Canada to the championship. He posted 23 offensive points (9 goals +14 assists) in 7 games and won MVP of the tournament.
Bedard entered the WHL (Western Hockey League), the highest level junior ice hockey league, in 2020 when he was 15 years old.
He played 57 games this season, scoring 143 offensive points with 71 goals and 72 assists, performing a formidable performance. After Conor McDavid (26), who played for the NHL Edmonton Oilers and took first place in offensive points five times this season, the ice hockey world was excited about the appearance of a lumber who would become the top star.
With Bedard in this year’s draft, lower teams desperately wanted the first pick.
In the NHL draft, in order to prevent outright tanking (a club management method that intentionally does not do its best in the regular league for the purpose of being selected for the top draft), the odds of winning the first place are given differently according to the reverse order of regular league performance.
This time, the worst-performing Anaheim Ducks got 18.5%, followed by Columbus Blue Jackets 13.5%. The 16 teams eliminated from the playoffs, including the Chicago Blackhawks (11.5%), San Jose Sharks (9.5%), Montreal Canadiens (8.5%), and Arizona Cayotis (7.5%), challenged for the first pick with equal odds. .
On the 9th (Korean time), an NHL nomination draw event was held, and the lucky first place went to the Chicago Blackhawks, which had a probability of 11.5%.
The moment the first-choice team was announced, images of Blackhawks club executives and fans enthusiastically cheering were posted on social media. Kyle Davidson, general manager of the Blackhawks, said, “Securing the first pick this time can change our team and change the city of Chicago,” adding, “Chicago citizens are cheering.”스포츠토토
The Blackhawks are a prestigious team that built a ‘dynasty’ in the early and mid-2010s. He was the Stanley Cup champion in 2010, 2013 and 2015. The Black Hawks reigned as a popular sports team representing Chicago, with millions of people filling the city center every time they had a championship parade.
However, since the mid-2010s, the leading players of the dynasty have been aging and their performance has gradually declined, and this season, they are rebuilding. The team’s main gun, Patrick Kane, was traded to the New York Rangers in the middle of the season, and captain Jonathan Taves also announced that he would be leaving the team at the end of this season.
The Blackhawks are expected to nominate Bedard in the 2023 draft, starting on the 27th, and build a new team around him. Fans who remember the brilliant team 10 years ago are also excited.