The Anaheim Ducks understood the assignment this year.
After suffering a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night, the Ducks have finished the season with the worst record, giving them the best odds of landing Connor Bedard with the first pick of the 2023 NHL Draft.
The Ducks will enter the May 8 draft lottery with a 25.5 percent chance of landing the NHL’s next phenom. They beat out Columbus and Chicago for the honors, with both teams grabbing points Thursday evening.
Anaheim finished the season with a 23-47-12 record, good for a league-worst .354 win percentage.
The Ducks have never selected first in the NHL Draft. The Montreal Canadiens picked Juraj Slafkovsky in 2022, while the Buffalo Sabres (Owen Power) and New York Rangers (Alexis Lafreniere) snagged the top selection the two previous years. If the Ducks were to win the lottery and select first, it would mark the second time a team from California selected first. The Kings took Rick Pagnutti with the first pick in 1967.
Anaheim had the worst goal-differential by far in 2022-23, finishing with a minus-129. Columbus was the only other team to break the 100-goal differential at minus-113. The Ducks went 0-8-2 in the final 10 games and lost the final 13 contests to secure the best chance at landing Bedard.
Bedard recently finished his WHL season with 71 goals and 143 points in the regular season and another 20 points in seven playoff games with Regina. He was far and away the best player in major junior this season and had one of the best World Junior Championship performances in tournament history with 23 points in just seven games en route to winning a second consecutive gold with Canada.
The 2022 championship came alongside Mason McTavish, who just finished a strong rookie campaign with the Ducks. McTavish, Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Olen Zellweger and Jamie Drysdale are part of a young core that helped the Ducks create one of the best young cores in the game. So, maybe, Ducks fans, this will have all been worth it, and the team can start competing again quite soon.
