NHL Draft 2023: Updated Order, Top Prospects and 1st-Round Mock (2024)

Before the 2023 NHL draft takes place in Nashville, Tennessee, this June, the fate of the league's bottom teams will be decided by pingpong balls.

The NHL draft lottery, which will be broadcast from the league's New Jersey headquarters on May 8, will determine in two lotteries which teams get to draft first and second overall.

Teams can move up a maximum of 10 spots, so only squads ranked in the NHL's bottom 11 at the season's end on April 14 will have a shot at WHL phenom Connor Bedard.

This could be the most impactful lottery in years given the strength of the 2023 draft class. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler said these prospects are rivaled only by Connor McDavid's 2015 class for the best of the decade. TSN's Bob McKenzie described the class as having "sizzle, substance and a lot to like."

Who will get to pick first in one of the best drafts in the past 10 years?

It all depends on whether it's the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks or San Jose Sharks that win out on the race to the bottom of the standings and the best lottery odds—and on how the balls decide to bounce.

Here's an outline of how this could go down on May 8, based on the latest mock draft from Tankathon.

Other potential first-round picks: Nick Lardis, LW, Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL); Gracyn Sawchyn, C, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL); Oliver Bonk, D, London Knights (OHL); Theo Lindstein, D, Brynas (SHL).

The IIHF might as well have called the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships the Connor Bedard show.

In case there were any doubts the Regina Pats captain, who just recorded the first 140-point season the WHL has seen since 1996, was this year's No. 1 pick, he put them to rest by leading Canada to the title with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in seven games.

Scouts have been discussing Bedard's future role as a potential generational talent since he was granted exceptional player status in order to play in the WHL at 15 years old, but you don't have to be a hockey developmental expert to see what makes Bedard special. It's visible in every highlight.

There is no doubt that whichever team wins the draft lottery on May 8 will be adding Bedard to its roster.

Fantilli burst onto the college hockey scene in 2022 with one of the best season starts the University of Michigan had ever seen.

His 15 points in the first six games of his NCAA career, the most for a Wolverine since Bruno Baseotto in 1979, were no fluke. Fantilli finished the season as the most productive player in the NCAA, with 64 points (29 goals, 35 assists) in 35 games.

He is now a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and could be the third freshman in NCAA history to win it. If Fantilli wins, he will be in good company. The only other two college players who claimed the trophy in their first college season are Ducks legend Paul Kariya and Vegas star Jack Eichel.

Fantilli's 6'2" frame, end-to-end skating ability and precise shot would have been enough to earn him the No. 1 pick in a draft that did not feature potential generational talent at the top—think Eichel sitting behind Connor McDavid in the 2015 draft. As consolation prizes go, Fantilli will be a game-changing one for whichever team misses out on Bedard.

Are you willing to sign a future NHL star—even if it will be three seasons before he plays for your team?

That's the question the team selecting at No. 3 will be facing as it grapples with the question of taking Matvei Michkov, the Russian goalscoring phenom who in 2020 signed with the KHL through 2025-26.

"It is my dream to play in the NHL one day," Michkov told NHL.com, through an interpreter, last month. "But for now I will continue to work on my game and develop as a player at home."

Michkov has a deadly shot, powerful release and the hands—and daring—required to pull off a lacrosse goal. He has been a top scorer in every Russian league he's touched since he became the first under-16 player to rack up a point per game in the MHL, the country's junior league.

His potential to add firepower to a team in need of goalscoring will make Michkov a smart pick at No. 3, even given the three-year wait.