LANGLEY, British Columbia — Connor Bedard, the projected no. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, will have a homecoming of sorts when he joins 39 other players looking to make a lasting impression at the 2023 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game at Langley Events Center on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN, RDS).
Born and raised in nearby North Vancouver, the right-shot center with Regina of the Western Hockey League has 81 points (39 goals, 42 assists) during a 32-game point streak after going without a point in Regina’s season opener Sept. 23. He also scored 17 goals during an eight-game goal streak.
Bedard (5-foot-10, 185 pounds), No. 1 in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American skaters presented by BioSteel, had 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) and was named top forward and most valuable player for gold medal-winning Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. He said he doesn’t pay much attention to the NHL standings and which teams may have the highest odds in selecting him at the 2023 draft at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
The first round will be June 28 and Rounds 2-7 on June 29. The NHL Draft Lottery to determine the first 16 picks in the draft will be held in April.
“I don’t really look much at all because there’s so much more time until then,” Bedard said. “Honestly, I’ve got to keep playing well and keep proving myself every game.”
Bedard will likely be the 16th player to skate in the CHL/NHL showcase game and then be chosen No. 1 in the NHL draft. Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said Bedard has shown flashes of brilliance associated with a few current NHL stars.
“When you look, you can see his similarities with his quickness, offensive smarts, that goes up to the Connor McDavid level but then just the pure substance and overall makeup of his game is reminiscent of Sidney Crosby,” Marr said. “He’s right up there with those players that are going to be all stars and win a lot of hardware moving forward.”
There are nine players among the top 20 in Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American skaters competing in the game: Center Brayden Yager (No. 5) of Moose Jaw (WHL), left wing Zach Benson (No. 7) of Winnipeg (WHL ), left wing Colby Barlow (No. 10) of Owen Sound (OHL), defenseman Lukas Dragicevic (No. 12) of Tri-City (WHL), center Nate Danielson (No. 13) of Brandon (WHL), right wing Ethan Gauthier (No. 14) of Sherbrooke (QMJHL), center Calum Ritchie (No. 17) of Oshawa, defenseman Oliver Bonk (No. 18) of London (OHL), and right wing Koehn Ziemmer (No. 20) of Prince George (WHL).
“To be a part of a pretty special group of 2005 birth years is pretty neat,” Yager said. “I’m really looking forward to it. I think having two guys from my team who played in this last year (defenseman Denton Mateychuk; forward Jagger Firkus) and kind of telling me about the whole experience, it sounded great.”
Forwards Samuel Honzek (No. 9) of Vancouver (WHL), Quentin Musty (No. 11) of Sudbury (OHL) and Andrew Cristall (No. 16) of Kelowna (WHL) were each invited but are unable to play due to injury. .
Carson Bjarnason of Brandon (WHL) is No. 1 in Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American goalies and will play for Team Red. Scott Ratzlaff of Seattle (WHL) is No. 6 and will play for Team White.
The game will include 18 players from the WHL, 15 from the OHL, and seven from the QMJHL.
Coaching are Michael Dyck (Red), coach of Vancouver (WHL), and retired NHL defenseman and Vancouver (WHL) player development coach Brent Seabrook (White). The honorary coaches will be Hockey Hall of Fame forwards Henrik Sedin (Red) and Daniel Sedin (White), who each played 17 seasons for the Vancouver Canucks, with former Canucks forwards Ron Delorme (Red) and Stan Smyl (White).
The players competing in the game were chosen by the 32 NHL teams in conjunction with NHL Central Scouting.
2023 CHL/NHL TOP PROSPECTS GAME
(NHL Central Scouting midterm ranking of North American skaters/goalies in parenthesis)
Team Red
GOALIES: (1G) Carson Bjarnason, Brandon (WHL); (12G) Charlie Robertson, North Bay (OHL)
DEFENSEMEN: (25) Beau Akey, Barrie (OHL); (29) Cameron Allen, Guelph (OHL); (34) Luca Cagnoni, Portland (WHL); (53) Matteo Mann, Chicoutimi (QMJHL); (24) Etienne Morin, Moncton (QMJHL); (63) Jordan Tourigny, Shawinigan (QMJHL)
FORWARDS: (84) Denver Barkey, London (OHL); (1) Connor Bedard, Regina (WHL); (7) Zach Benson, Winnipeg (WHL); (27) Mathieu Cataford, Halifax (QMJHL); (26) Riley Heidt, Prince George (WHL); (96) Nick Lardis, Peterborough (OHL); (60) Connor Levis, Kamloops (WHL); (47) Nico Myatovic, Seattle (WHL); (54) Alex Pharand, Sudbury (OHL); (41) Coulson Pitre, Flint (OHL); (42) Gracyn Sawchyn, Seattle (WHL); (50) Carey Terrance, Erie (OHL)
Team White
GOALIES: (6G) Scott Ratzlaff, Seattle (WHL); (17G) Jackson Unger, Moose Jaw (WHL)
DEFENSEMEN: (18) Oliver Bonk, London (OHL); (33) Hunter Brzustewicz, Kitchener (OHL); (12) Lukas Dragicevic, Tri-City (WHL); (65) Dylan MacKinnon, Halifax (QMJHL); (36) Tanner Molendyk, Saskatoon (WHL); (30) Caden Price, Kelowna (WHL)
FORWARDS: (10) Colby Barlow, Owen Sound (OHL); (13) Nate Danielson, Brandon (WHL); (14) Ethan Gauthier, Sherbrooke (QMJHL); (23) Kalen Lind, Red Deer (WHL); (38) Jaden Lipinski, Vancouver (WHL); (45) Ethan Miedema, Windsor (OHL); (46) Tyler Peddle, Drummondville (QMJHL); (49) Luca Pinelli, Ottawa (OHL); (31) Carson Rehkopf, Kitchener (OHL); (17) Calum Ritchie, Oshawa (OHL); (5) Brayden Yager, Moose Jaw (WHL); (20) Koehn Ziemmer, Prince George (WHL)
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