Bedard is the number one pick in the NHL draft, the number two pick is a Swedish comet from the World Championship! The only Shale to defend Czech colors in the first round

The 61st NHL Entry Draft took place on Wednesday night and more or less met expectations. Connor Bedard, a huge talent, was the number one pick by the Chicago Blackhawks. The Anaheim Ducks selected Leo Carlsson with the second pick and the Columbus Blue Jackets used the third pick to acquire Adam Fantilli.

Chicago acquired the mega-talent

Long before the draft, it was known that Canadian forward Connor Bedard would be the first player selected, as he is a generational talent who should have had no competition in this year’s draft.

When Chicago won the draft lottery, all Blackhawks fans took to the streets and celebrated. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this organization would choose another player, and so they started printing jerseys with his number 98 on them in advance.

Connor Bedard dominated the junior WHL, breaking several records and becoming its best player in history. The Canadian is only 178 centimetres tall, but he can do wonders on the ice. He skates well, is fast, has good hands and scores a lot of points. He is still only 17 years old, but he is expected to spend next year in the NHL.

The selection of two Canadians in a row was thwarted by a Swedish surprise

Adam Fantilli was expected to be the number two pick in the draft, but the Anaheim Ducks selected Swede Leo Carlsson instead. The youngster was a regular in the Swedish top league for Orebro, so he has plenty of experience in adult hockey.

The Swedish talent showed his skill at this year’s World Championship, where he collected five points for three goals and two assists in eight games. Given his experience, he could also make an appearance in the NHL this year.

The number three pick in the draft is the aforementioned Canadian Adam Fantilli, who is headed to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The fourth position was taken by Will Smith, who was selected by the San Jose Sharks. Interestingly, all four of those selected play the center position.

The fifth overall pick and the highest selected defenseman is Austrian David Reinbacher, who was selected by the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price was an embarrassment in his selection because he couldn’t pronounce the Austrian’s name.

Slovakia again did better than the Czech Republic in the draft. Dalibor Dvorsky was selected 10th overall by the St. Louis Blues and Samuel Honzek was selected 16th overall by the Calgary Flames. Eduard Šalé was the number 20 pick in this year’s draft and wore the jersey of the Seattle Kraken.

The second round of this year’s draft continues today at 5 p.m.

Source: NHL, Twitter, EliteProspects