- NHL. NHL Draft: Who has the first pick in the 2023 NHL draft?
- NHL. NHL Draft 2023 Ranking: Who are the players to look out for?
It is that time of year when there are drafts happening across seemingly almost every American sport. The NBA and the NFL may be the ones that really steal the headlines globally, but the NHL has a draft of its own and millions of people are watching closely.
The 2023 NHL Draft is going to be held from June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and the mock version of the draft has already taken place from NHL.com writers Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale, which has thrown up some interesting situations.
One heavily expected moment of intrigue will be when the Montreal Canadiens go on the clock with the fifth pick of the draft. There seems to very little mystery about the first four picks of the draft though.
Who is heading where in the NHL?
The expectation is that Connor Bedard will be first pick for the Chicago Blackhawks, Adam Fantilli will be second pick for the Anaheim Ducks, Leo Carlsson will the Columbus Blue Jackets and Matvei Michkov will be at the San Jose Sharks.
It is the second time in their history that the Blackhawks have had first overall pick.
After that, there is a lot of mystery about who is going to be picked by the other teams who are lower down in the schedule.
As for the mock draft, this is what they have come up with to round out the first 10 picks:
- 5. Montreal Canadiens: David Reinbacher, D, Kloten
- 6. Arizona Coyotes: William Smith, C, USA U-18 NTDP
- 7. Philadelphia Flyers: Ryan Leonard, RW, USA U-18 NTDP
- 8. Washington Capitals: Dalibor Dvorsky, C, Aik
- 9. Detroit Red Wings: Gabriel Perreault, RW, USA U-18 NTDP
- 10. St. Louis Blues: Nate Danielson, C, Brandon