Jason La Rose
After another successful NHL Draft, one thing remains clear – no country develops hockey players quite like Canada.
In total, more than one-third of the players who had their names called in Nashville – 87 of 224 – hail from north of the 49th parallel. (That includes players who were born outside the country but are products of the Canadian hockey system, like No. 37 pick Ethan Gauthier.)
The list features representation from 10 Members, and 33 who have worn the Maple Leaf in international competition.
The red-and-white run started from the top, with two-time IIHF World Championship gold medallist Connor Bedard going No. 1 to the Chicago Blackhawks. The North Vancouver, B.C., native is just the second player from Canada’s westernmost province to be taken with the first pick, joining Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2012).
CONNOR BEDARD IS A CHICAGO BLACKHAWK pic.twitter.com/7mZD3btVSM
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 28, 2023
Bedard rewrote the World Juniors record book, setting all-time records for goals (17) and points (36) by a Canadian.
Adam Fantilli followed quickly behind, going to the Columbus Blue Jackets with the third pick. He had a historic 2022-23 season on the international stage, becoming just the second Canadian – after Jonathan Toews (2007) – to win gold at the IIHF World Championship and IIHF World Junior Championship in the same season.
Canadians accounted for 12 of the 32 first-round picks; that list included seven players who helped Canada win gold at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Red Deer (Barlow, Benson, Bonk, Molendyk, Ritchie, Wood, Yager) and three who earned bronze at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship (Barlow, Ritchie, Wood).
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) was well represented among the Canadian contingent; 68 of the 87 players selected were products of CHL programs, from 39 different teams – led by six members of the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds. The Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League led the way with 29 picks each, followed by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 10.
The Seattle Thunderbirds (Hanzel, Milic, Myatovic, Mynio, Ratzlaff, Sawchyn) paced all club teams with six players selected, while the Brantford Bulldogs (Brown, Lardis, Thomas, Xhekaj), Flint Firebirds (Bertucci, Day, Hay, Pitre), London Knights (Barkey, Bonk, Cowan, Julien) and Ottawa 67's (Foster, Gardiner, Mayich, Pinelli) had four apiece.
CANADIAN PLAYERS DRAFTED – BY MEMBER
Ontario Hockey Federation (34) – Beau Akey, Cam Allen, Matthew Andonovski, Denver Barkey, Colby Barlow, Tristan Bertucci, Sebastian Bradshaw, Cole Brown, Jonathan Castagna, Warren Clark, Easton Cowan, Nathaniel Day, Adam Fantilli, Cooper Foster, Brad Gardiner, Andrew Gibson, Ethan Hay, Jacob Julien, Larry Keenan, Nick Lardis, Angus MacDonell, Ryan MacPherson, Matthew Mayich, Ethan Miedema, Alex Pharand, Luca Pinelli, Coulson Pitre, Carson Rehkopf, Calum Ritchie, Ryan Roobroeck, Konnor Smith, Patrick Thomas, Zaccharya Wisdom, Florian Xhekaj
BC Hockey (19) – Owen Beckner, Connor Bedard, Zach Benson, Luca Cagnoni, Aiden Celebrini, Andrew Cristall, Lukas Dragicevic, Terrell Goldsmith, Kaden Hammell, Jeremy Hanzel, Justin Kipkie, Connor Levis, Thomas Milic, Tanner Molendyk, Nico Myatovic, Sawyer Mynio, Austin Roest, Hoyt Stanley, Matthew Wood
Hockey Alberta (8) – Nate Danielson, Aiden Fink, Emmitt Finnie, Brett Hyland, Ty Mueller, Scott Ratzlaff, Gracyn Sawchyn, Koehn Ziemmer
Hockey Saskatchewan (8) – Noah Chadwick, Riley Heidt, Kalan Lind, Hudson Malinoski, Kalem Parker, Matthew Perkins, Caden Price, Brayden Yager
Hockey Quebec (7) – Mathieu Cataford, Ethan Gauthier, Justin Gill, Rudy Guimond, Charles-Olivier Legault, Quinton Miller, Étienne Morin,
Hockey Manitoba (3) – Carson Bjarnason, Jayden Perron, Carter Sotheran
Hockey New Brunswick (3) – Dylan MacKinnon, Matteo Mann, Bradly Nadeau
Hockey Eastern Ontario (2) – Oliver Bonk, Quinton Burns
Hockey P.E.I. (2) – Luke Coughlin, Cam Squires
Hockey Nova Scotia (1) – Tyler Peddle
CANADIAN PLAYERS DRAFTED – BY INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
2023 National Men’s Team Adam Fantilli
2023 National Junior Team Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, Thomas Milic
2022 National Junior Team Connor Bedard
2023 National Men’s Under-18 Team Cam Allen, Colby Barlow, Tristan Bertucci, Carson Bjarnason, Quinton Burns, Andrew Cristall, Lukas Dragicevic, Andrew Gibson, Riley Heidt, Nick Lardis, Angus MacDonell, Étienne Morin, Alex Pharand, Caden Price, Calum Ritchie, Matthew Wood
2022 National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team Cam Allen, Denver Barkey, Colby Barlow, Zach Benson, Carson Bjarnason, Oliver Bonk, Mathieu Cataford, Andrew Cristall, Ethan Gauthier, Riley Heidt, Kalan Lind, Dylan MacKinnon, Tanner Molendyk, Caden Price, Scott Ratzlaff, Carson Rehkopf, Calum Ritchie, Matthew Wood, Brayden Yager
2022 National Men’s Under-18 Team Connor Bedard, Lukas Dragicevic, Adam Fantilli, Kalem Parker, Matthew Wood
2021 National Men’s Under-18 Team Connor Bedard, Thomas Milic
2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Charles-Olivier Legault (White), Thomas Milic (Red)
2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games Nate Danielson, Adam Fantilli
2022 World Junior A Challenge Aiden Celebrini (West), Aiden Fink (West), Hudson Malinoski (West)