Three big takeaways from Round 1 of the 2023 NHL Draft

Three big takeaways from Round 1 of the 2023 NHL Draft

The 2023 NHL Draft kicked off with a big selection for the Chicago Blackhawks with the first overall pick. The Blackhawks drafted generational talent Connor Bedard, instantly changing the landscape of the Hawks roster for years to come.

The first round of the draft did not go as expected in the sense that it was so quiet. There were no trades during the first round, something that has been a staple in years past as teams juggle positioning to land the player they want most.

That might have something to do with how busy of a week led up to the draft. The Bruins already made some deals clearing up cap space, as did the Lightning, Avalanche and Golden Knights. The first day of the 2023 NHL Draft was relatively smooth sailing, but things could pick up on the second day.

Here is what the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft ended up looking like:

1. Chicago Blackhawks – Connor Bedard
2. Anaheim Ducks – Leo Carlsson
3. Columbus Blue Jackets – Adam Fantilli
4. San Jose Sharks – Will Smith
5. Montreal Canadiens – David Reinbacher
6. Arizona Coyotes – Dmitriy Simashev
7. Philadelphia Flyers – Matvei Michkov
8. Washington Capitals – Ryan Leonard
9. Detroit Red Wings – Nate Danielson
10. St. Louis Blues – Dalibor Dvorsky
11. Vancouver Canucks – Tom Willander
12. Arizona Coyotes (via Senators) – Daniil But
13. Buffalo Sabres – Zack Benson
14. Pittsburgh Penguins – Brayden Yager
15. Nashville Predators – Matthew Wood
16. Calgary Flames – Samuel Honzek
17. Detroit Red Wings (via Islanders) – Axel Sandin Pellikka
18. Winnipeg Jets – Colby Barlow
19. Chicago Blackhawks (via Lightning) – Oliver Moore
20. Seattle Kraken – Eduard Sale
21. Minnesota Wild – Charlie Stramel
22. Philadelphia Flyers (via Kings) –  Oliver Bonk
23. New York Rangers – Gabriel Perreault
24. Nashville Predators (via Oilers) – Tanner Molendyk
25. St. Louis Blues (via Maple Leafs) – Otto Stenberg
26. San Jose Sharks (via Devils) – Quentin Musty
27. Colorado Avalanche – Calum Ritchie
28. Toronto Maple Leafs (via Bruins) – Easton Cowan
29. St. Louis Blues (via Stars) – Theo Lindstein
30. Carolina Hurricanes – Bradly Nadeau
31. Colorado Avalanche (from Canadiens, via Panthers) – Mikhail Gulyayev
32. Vegas Golden Knights – David Edstrom

Before Round 2 of the draft gets underway in a few hours, let’s talk about a few takeaways from the first round of the draft.

1. The centers are flying off the board at the 2023 NHL Draft.

The first round of the draft featured 32 players get drafted into the NHL. Of those 32 players, 12 of them were centers. It seemed like every team was desperate to get their organization someone who can play down the middle for years to come, and a lot of teams found centers who could be part of their future plans.

The top four players taken in the draft are all listed as centers. Bedard, Carlsson, Fantilli and Smith all could very well be first line centers on their respective teams in the future. In some seasons, teams value some component more than in other years.

We saw that this year with the Montreal Canadiens shocking a lot of fans when they drafted defenseman David Reinbacher fifth overall when he was not projected to go that high. The Canadiens needed a defenseman, and they got one in Reinbacher, even if he was not projected to go in that position.

Now entering day two of the draft, it will be interesting to see what different teams value going forward. Teams like Chicago have added a lot of skill and speed in years past and in Round 1 yesterday, but now they might want to adjust and start adding a little more size into their organization. Others might still focus on taking players that match into a playoff type mold, guys who play physical and can thrive in a best of seven series.

2. Teams are overthinking it more than normal.

At the end of the day, the draft should just be about taking the best player available. While I understand every team is in a different stage of development and some teams need to address different needs then others, the draft should just be about taking the best player available.

The Anaheim Ducks seemed to be the first major over thinker of the draft when they took Leo Carlsson over Adam Fantilli with the second overall pick. Most scouts and media members had projected Fantilli to go second overall, and sure, maybe they all were wrong and Carlsson is the better player, but it does look like the Ducks just overthought the pick and ended up making a mistake.

Fantilli and Carlsson are two players who will always be grouped together now, as will everyone else out of the 2023 NHL Draft class, but these two players could have been drafted in any order. It will be interesting to see what a redraft of the first round could potentially look like in three to five seasons.