sport news NHL Draft Lottery: Why are teams clamoring for 17-year-old Connor Bedard? trends now

While the basketball world awaits the results of Tuesday's NBA Draft Lottery to learn who will be taking 7-foot-4 French sensation Victor Wembanyama, the hockey universe is equally focused on Monday's NHL Draft Lottery due to a similarly promising talent.

Connor Bedard, Canada's latest hockey prodigy, is the prize of this year's draft class after leading the country to gold at the world junior hockey championship in January.

'I've been going to that tournament for more than two decades,' one NHL scout told ESPN. 'And what Connor Bedard did, especially with all of the attention and eyes on him, is as impressive of an individual performance as you'll ever see. The only way I can describe it is pure dominance.'

Since then, NHL teams have been eyeing Monday's lottery to see which club will get the chance to take him in June's draft.

Anaheim, the NHL's worst team in 2022-23, has an 18.5 percent chance at the top pick, followed by Columbus (13.5 percent), Chicago (11.5), San Jose (9.5), Montreal (8.5), Arizona (7.5), Philadelphia (6.5), Washington (6), Detroit (5), St. Louis (3.5), Vancouver (3.0), Ottawa (2.5), Buffalo (2), Pittsburgh (1.5), Nashville (0.5) and Calgary (0.5).

There had been talk before the event that fellow forward Adam Fantilli — a teammate and a blue-chip prospect in his own right — might be closing the gap on the 17-year-old standout, but Bedard, has proven just how wide the gulf is between himself and his contemporaries.

'He's a professional already,' Canadian goaltender Thomas Milic said following the gold-medal game win in January. 'He's so good at everything he does — the way he prepares, the way he looks at the game, studies it. Incredible to see a mind like that at such a young age.'

The rest of the package is pretty good, too.

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