Bedard could replace Kane, Toews as face of Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks said goodbye this season to forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who were the faces of the franchise and helped return it to prominence.

Connor Bedard could be the next player who gets the Blackhawks back to the top of the League after Chicago won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery on Monday and hold the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, scheduled to be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The first round will be June 28, with rounds 2-7 on June 29.

It's the beginning of a new era for the Blackhawks (26-49-7), who have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs five of the past six seasons and kicked their rebuild into full gear. They traded several of their top players, including Kane, prior to the NHL Trade Deadline in March. Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson said he didn't have a sense of validation or vindication for the course they chose this season after winning the lottery, which set the order for the first 16 picks for the teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs.

"I feel that strongly about this draft, whether we picked 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, we were going to pick a player that was going to be a major piece for us," Davidson said. "I was very happy once we started to dig in heavily into the draft process in the second half, what was available to us no matter where we finished in that top five.

"So I don't think it's vindication. It's certainly a nice bonus and a nice surprise to come away with No. 1, but I think no matter what, we were going to add a major piece to our team, one way or the other."

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Bedard (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) led the Western Hockey League with 143 points (71 goals, 72 assists) in 57 games with Regina. He also had 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists), including six multipoint games, in Regina's seven-game loss to Saskatoon in the first round of the WHL playoffs.

He was the first WHL player to score at least 10 goals in a playoff series since 2012, when Ty Rattie did it for Portland in a first-round sweep of Kelowna.

It's the first time the Blackhawks have the No. 1 pick in the draft since 2007, when they selected Kane. Asked what he thought about Bedard, Davidson, with a big smile, said, "Great player. One of many in this draft."

"You understand the impact that a first overall pick can have and having the first overall pick in the right year," Davidson said. "Hopefully that's what we've got here and it can change a franchise, it can change a city and it can change an era in a team's history. So there's a lot of weight to that and a lot of significance to that. When that No. 1 card flipped over and it was our logo, it hits you all at once because you think about it in the lead-up and you think about what could be and you don't let yourself go there that often because chances were, we weren't going to see that come to fruition."

Kane, who was sent to the New York Rangers in a trade that also included the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 28, had 1,225 points (446 goals, 779 assists) in 1,161 regular-season games with Chicago. He also had 132 points (50 goals, 82 assists) in 136 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Blackhawks.

He won the Stanley Cup with them in 2010, 2013 and 2015, as did Toews, who the Blackhawks selected No. 3 in the 2006 NHL Draft. Toews had 883 points (372 goals, 511 assists) in 1,067 career regular-season games with them and 119 points (45 goals, 74 assists) in 137 playoff games.

The Blackhawks announced April 13 they would not re-sign Toews, their longtime captain, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. They are trying to get back to the days of consistent playoff appearances and winning the Stanley Cup, and they know it'll take more than one player to turn things around.

But having the opportunity to get Bedard certainly helps.

"I think any No. 1 pick can, and this is a strong year. I think this is well documented that this is a pretty special draft, and we're going to be able to pick at the top of it," Davidson said. "We're going to be able to pick who we want and we don't have to wait for anyone else to dictate our fortunes, so it's exciting.

"It's exciting and it's still sinking in and not having fully processed what just happened, but it's really exciting."

NHL.com staff writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report

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