The 2023 NHL Entry Draft is upon us!
With the Florida Panthers making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, this offseason has seemed, thankfully, condensed. A guy could get used to this…
Tonight’s proceedings at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena will see the first round take place, starting with the lottery-winning Chicago Blackhawks selecting Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard first 0verall. Coverage starts at 7:00 PM, with the broadcast handled by ESPN in the United States, and Sportsnet, and TVA Sports in Canada.
The final six rounds will begin tomorrow at 11:00 AM, and will be broadcast on NHL Network, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports.
Barring a trade, the Panthers will not make a first round selection tonight. The 31st overall pick now belongs to the Colorado Avalanche. Florida traded this selection to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Ben Chiarot on March 16, 2022. Yesterday, the Habs moved the pick to Colorado as part of the package to acquire Alex Newhook.
The Cats have a total of five picks in this draft. Their first selection will come near the end of the second round (63rd overall). They also have their own picks in rounds four (127th overall), five (159th overall) and six (191th overall). The final pick they will make, 198th overall in the seventh round, originally belonged to the Arizona Coyotes.
Draft Order
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Anaheim Ducks
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- San Jose Sharks
- Montreal Canadiens
- Arizona Coyotes
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Washington Capitals
- Detroit Red Wings
- St. Louis Blues
- Vancouver Canucks
- Arizona Coyotes (from Ottawa)
- Buffalo Sabres
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Nashville Predators
- Calgary Flames
- Detroit Red Wings (from New York Islanders via Vancouver)
- Winnipeg Jets
- Chicago Blackhawks (from Tampa Bay)
- Seattle Kraken
- Minnesota Wild
- Philadelphia Flyers (from Los Angeles via Columbus)
- New York Rangers
- Nashville Predators (from Edmonton)
- St. Louis Blues (from Toronto)
- San Jose Sharks (from New Jersey)
- Colorado Avalanche
- Toronto Maple Leafs (from Boston via Washington)
- St. Louis Blues (from Dallas via New York Rangers)
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Colorado Avalanche (from Florida via Montreal)
- Vegas Golden Knights
Pre-Draft Trades
Yesterday saw a flurry OF trades in the lead-up to the draft. Let’s take a look:
- The St. Louis Blues acquired Kevin Hayes from the Philadelphia Flyers for a sixth-round pick in 2024. (Broad Street Hockey)
- The Montreal Canadiens acquired Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche for a first-round pick (2023), second-round pick (2023) and Gianni Fairbrother. (Eyes On The Prize)
- The Los Angeles Kings acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets for Alex Iafallo, Gabriel Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick in 2024. (Jewels From The Crown).
- The San Jose Sharks acquired MacKenzie Blackwood from the New Jersey Devils for a sixth-round pick (2023) and Andrej Suster from the Anaheim Ducks for Andrew Agozzino. (Fear The Fin)
- The New Jersey Devils acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Calgary Flames for Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick in 2023. (Sportsnet)