Connor Bedard is already having a massive impact on the Blackhawks organization
Coming into Monday's NHL Draft Lottery, the Chicago Blackhawks held the third-best odds (11.5%) at landing the first overall pick and having the opportunity to select a generational talent in Connor Bedard.
The Blackhawks had already jumped up into the top-two as Bill Daly revealed that the Columbus Blue Jackets dropped from second to third overall. As Daly turned the first overall selection card around, it wasn't the Anaheim Ducks logo that appeared, who had the best odds at 25.5%, but it was the Chicago Blackhawks' logo.
Blackhawks fans were ecstatic with the news that they won the Draft Lottery, but fans of every other franchise in the National Hockey League were not pleased for several reasons. Many said that the lottery was rigged and they shouldn't have a first-round pick this year as punishment for the investigation into sexual assault allegations from Kyle Beach about video coach Brad Aldrich. While the latter is a very, very good point and the Blackhawks should have been punished much more than they were by the National Hockey League, there isn't much fans can do to change the process of how the draft lottery is done, unfortunately.
With the news of winning the Draft Lottery and Connor Bedard wearing a Blackhawks jersey next season making its way through the City of Chicago, fans have opened up their pockets for season tickets and the organization has made a lot of money in just one night.
According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, as of 10 p.m. ET on Monday night, the Blackhawks have $2.5 million worth of season ticket plans for next season in the 90 minutes that followed the results of the draft lottery. Pope added that among the season tickets packages sold by the Blackhawks, 500 are brand-new full-season plans.
To say Bedard is already having a massive impact on the Blackhawks organization and City of Chicago would be an understatement. It'll be interesting to see how the next five months unfold for the organization as we head into the 2023-24 season.
Adding Bedard into a prospect pool that includes Frank Nazar, Lukas Reichel, Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, Drew Commesso, among others, should turn the Blackhawks into a contending team in a matter of a few years.
The Blackhawks have already sold $2.5 million worth of season-ticket plans for 2023-24 in the 1.5 hours since winning the #1 pick � including more than 500 new full-season plans.� Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) May 9, 2023
| POLL | ||
Do you think the NHL Draft Lottery is rigged? | ||
| Yes, 100% | 179 | 57.7 % |
| No way | 69 | 22.3 % |
| Unsure | 38 | 12.3 % |
| See Results | 24 | 7.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
