The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes will likely battle it out all season long to see who has the worst record to get the best odds to draft Connor Bedard #1 overall.
The Philadelphia Flyers are not too far behind the Yotes and Blackhawks as they are expected to finish last in the Metropolitan division as our NHL projected standings show for the 2022-23 NHL season.
The Habs are projected to be cellar dwellers in the Atlantic division and will likely battle the Seattle Kraken for the 4th worst record in the NHL, but still give them some decent odds to draft 1st overall.
Connor Bedard the next generational talent in the NHL?
Since the Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews NHL drafts back in 2015 and 2016, there has not been a bonified superstar come around since then. (We will include Cale Makar, he was a steal for the Colorado Avalanche at #4 overall in the 2017 NHL Draft.)
All NHL Analysts predict Bedard is the next superstar, but will he be a generational talent like McDavid?
Will he turn out be a top-tier player like former #1 overall picks Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Patrick Kane, Nathan MacKinnon or be a bust like Nail Yakupov or Alexander Daigle?
Will tanking teams like Chicago and Arizona get the chance to draft #1 overall or will it backfire and another team higher up in the standings come and win the NHL draft lottery? View our NHL mock draft 2023 edition.