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2023 NHL draft primer: First-round order and top prospects

mike brehm, usa today
·4 min read
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The NHL draft is scheduled for June 28-29 in Nashville, Tennessee, and the order of the first round is set, barring another trade.

The top of the draft was determined in the lottery, when the Chicago Blackhawks won, moved up two spots and gained the right to select generational talent Connor Bedard, who won another award on Monday.

The Philadelphia Flyers changed up the order in early June by trading defenseman Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets and acquiring the No. 22 overall pick.

The final two first-round positions were determined in the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers. The champion Golden Knights will pick 32nd and the Panthers 31st. The Panthers gave up their first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens in last season's Ben Chiarot trade. But the Canadiens dealt the pick the day before the draft to the Colorado Avalanche for restricted free agent forward Alex Newhook.

A closer look at the NHL draft:

What is the first-round order for the 2023 NHL draft?

  1. Chicago Blackhawks (won draft lottery)

  2. Anaheim Ducks (won second draft drawing)

  3. Columbus Blue Jackets (moved back one spot after lottery drawings)

  4. San Jose Sharks

  5. Montreal Canadiens

  6. Arizona Coyotes

  7. Philadelphia Flyers

  8. Washington Capitals

  9. Detroit Red Wings

  10. St. Louis Blues

  11. Vancouver Canucks

  12. Arizona Coyotes (from Ottawa Senators in the Jakob Chychrun trade)

  13. Buffalo Sabres

  14. Pittsburgh Penguins

  15. Nashville Predators

  16. Calgary Flames

  17. Detroit Red Wings (from New York Islanders via Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks traded the pick they got in the Bo Horvat trade to the Red Wings for Filip Hronek.)

  18. Winnipeg Jets

  19. Chicago Blackhawks (from Tampa Bay Lightning in the Brandon Hagel trade)

  20. Seattle Kraken

  21. Minnesota Wild

  22. Philadelphia Flyers (from Los Angeles Kings vs. Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets traded the pick they got in the Vladislav Gavrikov/Joonas Korpisalo trade to the Flyers for Provorov.)

  23. New York Rangers

  24. Nashville Predators (from Edmonton Oilers in the Mattias Ekholm trade)

  25. St. Louis Blues (from Toronto Maple Leafs in the Ryan O'Reilly trade)

  26. San Jose Sharks (from New Jersey Devils in the Timo Meier trade)

  27. Colorado Avalanche

  28. Toronto Maple Leafs (from Boston Bruins via Washington Capitals. The Capitals traded the pick they got in the Dmitry Orlov trade to the Maple Leafs for Rasmus Sandin.)

  29. St. Louis Blues (from Dallas Stars via New York Rangers. The Rangers traded the pick they got in the Nils Lundkvist trade to the Blues for Vladimir Tarasenko. Dallas would have picked 29th because it lost in the conference final)

  30. Carolina Hurricanes (the NHL's No. 2 overall team lost in the conference final)

  31. Colorado Avalanche (from Florida Panthers via Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens traded the pick they got from the Stanley Cup runner-up Panthers in the 2022 Ben Chiarot trade to the Avalanche for Alex Newhook)

  32. Vegas Golden Knights (Stanley Cup winner)

When and where will be the NHL draft be held?

The first round will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 28, at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. The second through seventh rounds will be held on Thursday, June 29, starting at 11 a.m. ET.

How can I watch the NHL draft?

The first day will be shown on ESPN. The remaining rounds will be shown on NHL Network.

Who are some of the top prospects?

This is a deep draft with a generational talent at the top.

Bedard, a 5-9.75, 185 Canadian, has an elite shot and led the Western Hockey League this season with 71 goals and 143 points in 57 games, plus had 20 points in seven games in the Regina Pats' first-round playoff loss. He received the Canadian Hockey League's Player of the Year, Top Scorer and Top Prospect awards. He won a gold medal and was named world junior championships MVP after setting a Team Canada record with nine goals and 23 points in seven games. The International Ice Hockey Federation named him its inaugural IIHF Male Player of the Year on June 19.

Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli is expected to go No. 2 overall after leading college hockey with 30 goals and 65 points in 36 games for the University of Michigan. Other top-ranked North American skaters are forwards Will Smith (No. 3) and Ryan Leonard (No. 5) of the U.S. National Team Development Program and forward Matthew Wood (No. 4) of the University of Connecticut.

Swedish center Leo Carlsson (25 points in 44 games) is the top-ranked international skater. No. 2-ranked Matvei Michkov is a wild card because the talented Russian winger is under contract in the Kontinental Hockey League through 2025-26.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL draft 2023: Order for the first round