Bedard 'very thankful' to join Blackhawks as No. 1 pick in 2023 Draft

NASHVILLE --Connor Bedard wove his way through the crowds at Bridgestone Arena as fans, recognizing who he was, started to descend on the No. 1 pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Wednesday.

"A lot of people around me. It was good to feel the support right after," said Bedard, who was surrounded by people who yelled his name, tried to catch up to him to take a photo or tried to slap or shake his hand. He was also cheered by a slew of Blackhawks fans who have already purchased his No. 98 jersey.

"It's pretty cool and special that people want to meet you," he said.

The massive amount of attention could be heady stuff for anyone, let alone a 17-year-old. But in the midst of a walk around the arena to visit various media outlets, Bedard, the expected No. 1 pick of this draft for at least two years, it was just another day in the spotlight.

That calm should serve the center well as he takes on massive expectations with Chicago, which won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery on May 8 and are looking to him to help accelerate their rebuild. Bedard had 143 points (71 goals, 72 assists) in 57 games for Regina of the Western Hockey League this season.

"I think it's just how great he wants to be," Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said when asked about what stood out about Bedard. "He wants to be great, he takes nothing for granted, he's humble. I could just say he gets it. He just gets it.

"He's going to put in the work to be as good as he's going to be, or can be, and that's really exciting, considering how good he already is."

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Chicago has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs five of the past six seasons after winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. They're also looking at Bedard as the next cornerstone of the franchise after the departure of forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who helped lead the Blackhawks to the Cup on those three occasions.

Kane was traded to the New York Rangers on Feb. 28, and the Blackhawks announced April 13 they would not re-sign Toews, their captain since July 18, 2008.

"It is lucky. That's what it is," Davidson said of getting Bedard. "I had no hand in winning the lottery. That's just luck and yeah, we're very fortunate.

"It was very tough to make the decision to move on from Jonathan and Patrick and not knowing what was on the other side of that. It was not easy, but [we] thought it was the best course of action, whether we won the lottery, moved up or not. Luckily, we did and again, tough decision, but lucky we won the lottery and here we are today."

When Bedard's name was announced, he hugged family, including mom Melanie, dad Tom and sister Madisen before heading to the stage. Bedard talked about sharing the moment with family that was present, and also thinking about his grandfather, who died in a car accident April 6, 2021, at age 73.

"Me and him were super close," Bedard said. "He loved being around people and being the life of the party and everything. It's very sad he's not able to be here, but I'm sure he's watching, and he would be super proud. It's good to think of things like that."

It's been pretty evident since the Blackhawks won the lottery that they would select Bedard, but he wasn't looking ahead.

"I didn't want to jinx myself or anything, so I was playing it cool," Bedard said with a laugh. "Just doing normal day-to-day stuff. Now I can start looking into stuff and all that, but a lot of people talked to me about it, and seeing the reaction of fans after everything is unbelievable."

Now, it's official. Bedard is with the Blackhawks. There's a lot of unknowns ahead, but he has handled everything well to this point and appears ready for the next chapter.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to be with my family and friends and get to hear my name be called and experience that, especially with such a storied organization," Bedard said. "Everything I've heard about the people there has been nothing but positives.

"Very thankful that the staff, Kyle, Luke (Richardson, Blackhawks coach), everyone, put their faith in me with that pick."