The NHL draft is scheduled for June 28-29 in Nashville, Tennessee, and the order of the first round is set, barring a 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.
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.
A closer look at the NHL draft:
What is the first-round order for the 2023 NHL draft?
-
Chicago Blackhawks (won draft lottery)
-
Anaheim Ducks (won second draft drawing)
-
Columbus Blue Jackets (moved back one spot after lottery drawings)
-
San Jose Sharks
-
Montreal Canadiens
-
Arizona Coyotes
-
Philadelphia Flyers
-
Washington Capitals
-
Detroit Red Wings
-
St. Louis Blues
-
Vancouver Canucks
-
Arizona Coyotes (from Ottawa Senators in the Jakob Chychrun trade)
-
Buffalo Sabres
-
Pittsburgh Penguins
-
Nashville Predators
-
Calgary Flames
-
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.)
-
Winnipeg Jets
-
Chicago Blackhawks (from Tampa Bay Lightning in the Brandon Hagel trade)
-
Seattle Kraken
-
Minnesota Wild
-
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.)
-
New York Rangers
-
Nashville Predators (from Edmonton Oilers in the Mattias Ekholm trade)
-
St. Louis Blues (from Toronto Maple Leafs in the Ryan O’Reilly trade)
-
San Jose Sharks (from New Jersey Devils in the Timo Meier trade)
-
Colorado Avalanche
-
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.)
-
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)
-
Carolina Hurricanes (the NHL’s No. 2 overall team lost in the conference final)
-
Montreal Canadiens (from the Stanley Cup runner-up Florida Panthers in the Ben Chiarot trade)
-
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 5-10, 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.
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 William 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
