Ah, well. Onward and upward.

Fantilli, Zegras and Terry will be a sight to behold. Meanwhile, Los Angeles managed to construct a pretty good second line through three trades, so maybe Verbeek can do the same, and there's always the possibility that Pastujov, Gaucher and Perreault can be good. We've already got a solid defensive foundation in place when we become relevant again. And we'll have another high pick again next June.

I'm glad you noticed the Weekes gaffe, too.

Listen, I agree about all the Sexual Assault stuff and I understand the resentment. But everyone from that team was fired/isnt coming back, Rocky Wirtz is no longer a meaningful voice in the organization and the current group in charge has been very good at making amends and submitting to punishments, and any draft punishment for that would have come last year and the year before. Not this year.

Noted. But it’s very frustrating to see a franchise with that in their track record be rewarded ever.

Arizona had picks taken away for testing players too early. Chicago has this scandal and…nothing

I agree. Definitely not saying they deserve it, or that they deserve for people to be happy for them. I just think that people saying that they shouldnt have picks in this draft are thinking with too much outcome bias

If they can manage to find a good coach and build a decent defensive, there’s no reason why the Ducks could try and make playoffs next year. The West, especially the Pacific is becoming increasingly weak.

I agree with you. But as I said in my post, it wouldnt have been for this draft anyway. It would have been last years

You think the Ducks trade down? Do they really need another center in Fantilli? I could see getting montreals two 1sts and ducks move back to 5.

With that kind of scandal it should have been multiple picks for multiple years imo.

It just seems odd that Chicago happens to get generational talent the same year they lose Toews and Kane. Even without the SA the outcome is blatantly fishy.

Having a 1-2 of Fantilli and McTavish with Zegras and Terry on the wings is a helluva lineup to have. I still think they draft him

Especially with the fact that it was found true and the NHL completely swept it under the rug

Chicago is their Darling though…obviously

Im not here to dispute that. They should have thrown the book at them. But the reason other teams lost picks for things was because they were creating a competitive advantage for themselves here, so the punishment fits the crime of taking away that "competitive advantage". That wasn't really the case here so there was a different precedent to be set. 2 million wasn't near enough of a punishment, I agree. But taking away draft picks wasnt really fitting for the crime. They should've had their names wiped from the 2010 cup and been fined quite a significant margin more

It's possible, either Montreal or Columbus would be potential trade partners. Columbus is more likely as we'd still be guaranteed Carlsson, but it kind of depends on how things shake out with Florida, but I don't think we want to move all the way down to 5.

Alright, first and foremost, everyone who is not a Blackhawks fan will agree, Chicago doesn't deserve Bedard. Chicago got Kane 1OA in 07, since then they have had 3 Stanley cups. Since Chicago drafted Kane, Anaheim and Columbus combined have 0 cups and 0 1st overall selections. In the history of both franchises, there is only 1 cup and no 1OA selections. In light of the still recently revealed sexual assault scandal, with how little they were punished, its especially frustrating. However, the fans in Chicago didn't do it, and Bedard represents hope, so lets not be ****ty to them. Instead, lets pour one out for Bedard, he is entering an decayed roster that had all of the good young pieces stripped from it this past year, and recent allegations from Kane himself that Chicago doesn't develop players correctly (Dach). The poor kid is going to rot there while Chicago continues the rebuild, or Chicago is going to rush things and then he will be stuck on a team that is good enough to make the post season, but not good enough to do anything once they got there.

For the Ducks, I think Verbeek is probably relieved he didn't land the Bedard ticket. Kid has all the skill in the world, but as Caufield and Drysdale showed this season, if you are undersized, you have a higher risk of serious injuries. I think Fantilli or Carlsson were going to be Verbeeks preferred choice all along, but if he landed 1OA, there is no way he couldn't pick Bedard. The question now is, what does Verbeek do with 2OA? Historically speaking, he is not afraid of drafting foreign players, so long as they have played the NA game before. Based on his (admittedly limited) draft history, I think Verbeek takes Fantilli and that is that.

However, having the burden of the 1OA pick lifted from his shoulders, he could trade back with Columbus to add the LA 2023 1st, or perhaps Montreal (depending on how Florida does) Yes, Fantilli is still a stud, but going from Fantilli to Carlsson if it means another pick in the 20's is something I would consider in his shoes.

TLDR yes, it is frustrating that a team who did not deserve Bedard won the lottery, but we still have a great pick, and will come out alright.

Yes very frustrating. The NHL has the most arbitrary "punishment" system out of the big 4 leagues. As some pointed out, Arizona cheated by pre-testing players. They had to forfeit 2 high picks as a result. Fair enough. What isn't fair is that a long-covered up scandal is exposed, the hockey world and sports world as a whole is disgusted and calls for a clear message to be sent. What happens? The league barfs up a verbose written reprimand, a few guys get bagged and blacklisted from the NHL, but the actual Blackhawks franchise receives absolutely no tangible punishment. It may only take 1 or 2 bad people to cause abuse but it takes a hoard to cover it up. In my opinion that makes the franchise as a whole culpable and therefore deserving of some penalty like the forfeiture of draft picks. Now likely if the NHL had done that, this current 2023 1st would not have been penalized. Regardless, it is very hard to see the draft results and not think "rigged." Same feeling with the Ranger's moving up in the Laf draft. It seems the league is favouring the "big" franchises while sweeping the smaller market teams under the rug. Anaheim and Columbus are both franchises worthy of a generational star like Bedard. They will both still get franchise altering players at 2 and 3. It'll be a weird juxtaposition to be cheering for Bedard but cheering against the success of Chicago