Regina Pats Connor Bedard is set to join the Chicago Blackhawks after they won the NHL draft lottery..This win could change the course of the historic Original Six team's future..The Blackhawks won the lottery to choose Connor Bedard, the most anticipated draft pick since Connor McDavid in 2015..Bedard has been compared to the Edmonton Oilers McDavid and Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby, whom he looked up to as role models..With Bedard as the franchise's new face, Chicago aims to return to the top of the hockey world..Bedard replaces former stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups from 2010-2015..The Blackhawks committed to a full-scale rebuild last year and this is its first lottery win since 2007, when they acquired Kane..At 8:22 p.m. EST, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly revealed the Blackhawks logo on a placard, indicating they had won the first pick in the draft..This announcement sparked a wild celebration among fans at a watch party..Chicago had an 11.5% chance of winning the lottery, the third-highest odds after Anaheim's 25.5% and Columbus' 13.5%..“I think I just said ‘Wow’ because you understand the impact that a first overall pick can have and having a first overall pick in the right year,” Kyle Davidson, Blackhawks general manager, told the media at a Chicago press conference..“Hopefully, that’s what we’ve got here. It can change a franchise, it can change a city and it can change an era in a team’s history. There’s a lot of weight to that and lot of significance to that.”.Bedard, from North Vancouver, BC, played for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League and led all junior players in Canada with 72 goals and 143 points in the last season..He's only 17 years old and will turn 18 in July..In a pre-recorded television interview, Bedard discussed how the draft would determine his future..“There’s different emotions watching, but I think we’re all just watching as fans. … It’s more for the teams,” said Bedard.
