Not surprisingly, Bedard of Regina in the Western Hockey League is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm rankings presented by BioSteel of the top North American skaters eligible for the draft, which is scheduled to be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The first round will be June 28 and Rounds 2-7 on June 29. The NHL Draft Lottery to determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks will be held in April.
Central Scouting revealed its midterm ranking of the top North American skaters and goalies, and the top International skaters and goalies, on Friday. Center Leo Carlsson of Orebro in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional league in Sweden, is No. 1 among International skaters.
2023 Midterm rankings: [North American skaters | North American goalies | International skaters | International goalies]
PDFs: [North American skaters | North American goalies | International skaters | International goalies]
Rounding out the top five North American skaters are center Adam Fantilli of the University of Michigan, center William Smith of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team, right wing Ryan Leonard of the NTDP, and center Brayden Yager of Moose Jaw in the WHL.
Bedard (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) was named the most valuable player of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship after leading gold medal-winning Canada with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in seven games to become the third NHL Draft-eligible player to be named WJC MVP in the past eight tournaments (
Alexis Lafreniere
, Canada, 2020; Jesse Puljujarvi, Finland, 2016).
"Connor Bedard has risen to every challenge and situation over the past three years and has excelled due to his tremendous talent, and he's done so as one of the youngest players on each team," Central Scouting vice president Dan Marr said. "At this year's World Juniors, he again showed that he is a high-character player, and the hockey world was able to see his leadership ability to take charge and take his team to a gold medal."
The 17-year-old right-shot center holds the record for most goals and points by a Canada player in a single World Juniors, and he had the fourth-most points of any player in a single WJC, behind Sweden forward Peter Forsberg (31, 1993), Sweden forward Markus Naslund (24, 1993) and Finland forward Raimo Helminen (24, 1984).
Despite missing 11 WHL games while at the WJC, Bedard leads the league in assists (39) and points (70) in 29 games, and has a 28-game point streak (31 goals, 39 assists). It's the longest in the WHL since Brett Leason (Anaheim Ducks) of Prince Albert had a 30-game streak in 2018-19.
"When we start to use the term 'generational talent,' some people get into a knot about that stuff and think we're loosely using that as a description, but that's exactly what Bedard] is. And when you are that type of talent, it's all-encompassing," Sportsnet scouting analyst Jason Bukala
[told the "NHL Draft Class" podcast
. "There are special athletes in any sport that come along once in a while. They're just in tune in so many different categories, and I'd qualify Bedard that way.
"He can be in the League right now, and depending what team he was playing for, certainly be right there in the Calder Trophy discussion as NHL rookie of the year, in my opinion."
Fantilli (6-2, 195) leads Michigan with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 16 games as an 18-year-old freshman. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games for Canada at the 2023 WJC.
