Connor Bedard is the grand prize waiting for the Chicago Blackhawks after they won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery on Monday.
But there is a lot to look forward to for the teams that weren't lucky enough to win the Bedard sweepstakes.
The 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, which will be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on June 28-29, features several forwards who have the chance to become foundational pieces for whichever NHL team selects them.
Fantilli (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) led NCAA players with 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) in 36 games. The 18-year-old helped Michigan reach the Frozen Four and won the Hobey Baker Award as the best men's NCAA Division I player.
"I can't recall a player that's come into the NCAA and performed to the degree that he has and come away with making it to the Frozen Four, winning the league championship, being the Hobey Baker Award winner," Central Scouting vice president Dan Marr said. "I can't recall a player that's been that focused. It's like he was on a mission this season. It's just so impressive.
"He deserves to be where he's ranked for us and he deserves to go as high as he can in the draft. You don't see players come along and put on that type of season very often."
Michigan coach Brandon Naurato has worked with several top-tier NHL players during his coaching career, among them Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin, Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor and New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, and he believes Fantilli isn't far from their level.
"He's got the motor of a Dylan Larkin," Naurato said. "He can score from distance and is learning to score more in tight as well like a Kyle Connor. and then his ability to score off the pass like Kyle. Jack Hughes' vision is his biggest attribute, his IQ, and Adam's right up there with IQ and awareness in his routing away from the puck to get open and find those soft areas."
The top two players on Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters also are considered elite prospects: center Leo Carlsson of Orebro of the Swedish Hockey League and right wing Matvei Michkov of SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Carlsson (6-3, 198) had 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 44 SHL games, and the 18-year-old had six points (three goals, three assists) in seven games to help Sweden finish fourth at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Michkov (5-10, 172), had 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 27 games on loan with Sochi of the KHL, but the NHL team that selects him does so understanding the 18-year-old has a contract with SKA St. Petersburg that runs through the 2025-26 season.
"If you're strictly evaluating the on-ice play, then Michkov is one of the elite players in this draft class," Marr said. "He has the potential to be in the conversation as of one of the elite players of this decade, same as Connor Bedard.
"If you factor in a healthy and stronger player, Michkov will be able to influence games and have a similar impact on the scoreboard as Bedard. They both have their own unique styles of attack when they have the puck, they are offensive threats and they're both exciting players to watch."
Other top forward prospects who could have major impacts in the NHL include William Smith, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore and Gabriel Perreault from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program; Dalibor Dvorsky of AIK in Sweden's second division; Eduard Sale of Brno in the Czech Republic; Zach Benson from Winnipeg of the WHL; and Matthew Wood of the University of Connecticut.
Smith helped the United States win the 2023 IIHF Under-18 World Championship last month with a tournament-high 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in seven games and was named the tournament's most valuable player. He was second on the NTDP with 127 points (51 goals, 76 assists) in 60 games.
"He just goes out on the ice and makes things happen," Marr said. "He makes things happen when you need a goal, he does the right things when you're defending the lead. But he has that explosive offensive game that makes him a difference maker out there. And when you add in the speed that he has, and he's pretty focused, pretty competitive individual there, it all adds up to being an all-star NHL prospect."
Teams looking for defensemen could focus on Austria-born David Reinbacher (6-2, 185), a right-handed shot who had 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) in 46 games for Kloten in the National League, the top professional league in Switzerland.
"He's a big body, there's lots of room for weight there," Sportsnet analyst Jason Bukala said of the 18-year-old. "We all know how much emphasis teams put on right-shot [defensemen] who can be transporters of the puck and create secondary offense potentially at the NHL level.
"I think there's some bump to his game too. I think there's some of that where he's going to close on people, and if he doesn't punish them, he's big and wide so he's going to take away space in his zone."
Marr said the top-level talent available for the 2023 draft rivals the 2019 group, which was headlined by center Jack Hughes, the No. 1 pick by the New Jersey Devils.
"To be honest with you, I think the top end of this draft class is slightly higher of the top end of that draft class," Marr said.
