Blackhawks 'extremely happy' after drafting Bedard, trading for Perry

NASHVILLE -- The Chicago Blackhawks left Nashville not only with a new face of the franchise, but a familiar, yet infamous face and another young player who has the potential to do great things.

"I'll leave Nashville extremely happy," general manger Kyle Davidson said Thursday at the conclusion of the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena. "And if you told me a couple of weeks ago this is what we would be heading home with, I'd take it every day of the week."

As expected, the Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick Wednesday, but also selected forward Oliver Moore at No. 19 and then swung a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday for forward and Chicago nemesis Corey Perry.

Perry, who could've become an unrestricted free agent July 1, signed a one-year, $4 million contract on Friday, which may have been the last big thing on Davidson's to-do list.

"Maybe look at a couple of options out there, but the heavy lifting is certainly finished for us," he said.

And what work it was.

RELATED: [Complete 2023 NHL Draft coverage | NHL Trade Tracker]

It started with Bedard, who's set to become the next face of the Blackhawks after the departures of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who helped Chicago win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Kane was traded to the New York Rangers on Feb. 28, and the Blackhawks announced April 13 they would not re-sign Toews.

The 17-year-old led the Western Hockey League in goals (71), points (143), shots on goal (360), points per game (2.51) and goals per game (1.24) in 57 regular-season games with Regina this season. He was also tied for the WHL lead in assists (72) and game-winning goals (11).

He's the most hyped, most talked about No. 1 pick since Connor McDavid went to the Edmonton Oilers in 2015.

"Good player, better person," Blackhawks director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey said. "He's going to be able to drive our team when he gets acclimated and a little bit more mature. He's a player that you build around. Not only on the ice -- the on-ice product we all saw this year with Team Canada and Regina -- but just the way he carries himself, the way his teammates respect him. He brings a lot of guys into the action, and he'll just make everyone around him better."

The Blackhawks' big first round continued 18 picks later when they were able to select Oliver Moore. Davidson said they figured the speedy Moore would go earlier in the first round and tried to move up to get him. Instead, Moore, who had 75 points (31 goals, 44 assists) in 61 regular-season games with the United States National U-18 team last season, was still available.

Moore was equally happy to go to Chicago.

"Anytime you get the chance to go into a rebuild like this, what they're trying to do, it's going to be special to be a part of, and I think I can help them out a lot with that," said Moore, who won gold at the IIHF World U18 Championship this year and will attend the University of Minnesota in the fall.

In addition to acquiring Perry for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks acquired forward Taylor Hall and defenseman Nick Foligno in a trade with the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Perry, 38, has 883 points (417 goals, 466 assists) in 1,257 games with the Anaheim Ducks, who selected him No. 28 in 2003 NHL Draft, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens and Lightning.

"I think what he can bring, similar to Nick Foligno, is amazing veteran presence," Davidson said. "(Corey has) been in the League quite some time, knows what it takes to win, knows how to be a great professional and then also has some background and some history with our head coach, where Luke (Richardson) was with him in Montreal. He saw how he worked with some of their young players and he appreciated that, waw a great benefit in what Corey did, so we're going to try to extract some of that benefit as well."

The Blackhawks, who haven't qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2020, appear to be set up at center with Bedard, Moore and Video: Connor Bedard drafted by Chicago Blackhawks, who they took with the No. 13 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

"I think more than anything, how that shakes out and what positions they play, we'll figure that out," Davidson said. "But it's a great thing to have options and it's a great thing to have guys that play the way they play and just really, really happy about it."