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By now, even if you’re just a casual hockey fan, you know everything about Connor Bedard.
The 17-year-old phenom is fresh off of one of the best performances ever seen at the World Junior Championship. He then wasted no time finding the scoresheet in his return to the WHL, scoring four goals and six points in his first game back with the Regina Pats – a 6-2 win over Calgary. Bedard is on pace for just under 140 points, which would be one of the best outputs from a U-18 player in CHL history.
He’s truly the real deal. And all 32 teams could use a “generational” talent like him.
But which teams have the best shot at selecting first overall and grabbing a franchise-changing star? The last place team has the best shot at landing Bedard – in this case, that’s the Chicago Blackhawks at 25.5 percent. Teams can only move up a maximum of 10 spots, so only the bottom 11 teams are eligible to win the lottery.
Let’s take a look at the teams with the best shot at landing Bedard: while looking at their current odds:
Chicago Blackhawks (25.5%)
Two summers ago, the Blackhawks acquired Seth Jones and Marc-Andre Fleury in an attempt to keep their fleeting hopes of a Cup run alive. By the end of last season, Fleury was gone, as was much of the team’s top forward core, and in came two inconsistent goaltenders that had missed much of the past two seasons. The Hawks have embraced the tank, and, love them or hate them, sit with the best odds to land Bedard. The Blackhawks picked Patrick Kane with the first selection in 2007, and that helped set the foundation for the Blackhawks to become one of the most dominant teams of the 2010s. Wouldn’t it be fitting if they brought in the team’s newest superstar in a year when many expect Kane to get moved?