NHL Draft 2023 live updates (2024)

The 2023 NHL Draft brought some surprises: In the first round, no goalies were drafted and no trades were made. The Chicago Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard with the first pick to jumpstart their rebuild. Surprise selections started at No. 2, when the Ducks took Leo Carlsson, leaving Adam Fantilli for the Blue Jackets at No. 3.

Most players in the first round were picked around where they were projected, except Gabe Perreault — The Athletic's Scott Wheeler's No. 7 player — fell to No. 23 and landed with the Rangers. The Maple Leafs made a move for Easton Cowen — Wheeler's 97th prospect and The Athletic's Corey Pronman's 95th ranked player — with pick No. 28. Besides that, it was a run-of-the-mill round.

Trades picked up on Day 2 and were made until the very last name, when the Golden Knights sent pick No. 224 to the Blue Jackets, who used it to take Tyler Peddle. Six picks prior, Predators GM David Poile made his final move with the franchise to acquire the No. 218 selection before he officially retires Friday. Poile spent it on Aiden Fink before receiving a standing ovation from the draft room.

Read here for news, analysis and draft-night scenes from The Athletic's NHL staff.

Full draft results.

Required reading

• 2023 NHL Draft: Ranking the best players available for Day 2
• Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks’ face of hope, has arrived
• Winners and losers of the first round

Find the best ticket deals on StubHub to see your favorite team.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

The Golden Knights traded pick No. 224, the last pick of the draft, to the Blue Jackets.

Columbus used it to take Tyler Peddle.

The 18-year-old had what looked like an easy dozen members of his family around him, who he all hugged after hearing his name close out the 2023 NHL Draft.

(Photo: Dennis Pajot / Getty Images)

David Poile makes one final trade as the general manager of the Nashville Predators and acquires the No. 218 selection.

He then announced his "last pick of all time," he said.

"This is the player, Aiden Fink," Poile said into a microphone at the Predators table.

A standing ovation followed.

Matteo Mann, the son of Senators assistant GM Trent Mann, was just selected in the seventh-round of the NHL Draft by the Flyers.

NHL Network said Matteo was a runner at the 2016 NHL Draft, going around and getting coffee for Senators executives. Now, he's back in the room where it happens as an NHL draftee.

With the 195th overall pick, the Blackhawks select defenseman Janne Peltonen.

They finish the draft with nine forwards, one defenseman and one goalie.

Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler's best available after Round 6:

Pronman

1. Yegor Rimashevskiy, Dynamo Moscow Jr. (Russia) winger — No. 67
2. Aiden Fink, Brooks (AJHL) winger — No. 70
3. Samuel Mayer, Peterborough (OHL) defenseman — No. 84
4. Matteo Fabrizi, Red Deer (WHL) defenseman — No. 85
5. Hannes Hellberg, Leksand Jr. (Sweden) winger — No. 86

Wheeler

1. Aiden Fink, Brooks (AJHL) winger — No. 73
2. Emil Jarventie, Ilves (Finland) winger — No. 79
3. Connor Lewis, Kamloops (WHL) winger — No. 82
4. Mazden Leslie, Vancouver (WHL) defenseman — No. 94

Winnipeg’s challenge is to move through this period of roster turnover in a position to build a winner.

The first step? First-round pick Colby Barlow.

Kevin Cheveldayoff felt trade talks swell as Winnipeg got close to picking Barlow Wednesday. He didn’t let it reach a boiling point, however, selecting the 6-foot-1 power forward — and youngest captain in Owen Sound Attack history — at No. 18.

“There got to be a flurry of phone calls right around our pick and that almost made us solidify the fact that we were picking (Barlow) even more,” Cheveldayoff said on the draft floor. “Everyone talked about what a good draft it was and, I think if your player was there, you had to strike.”

See more on Jets trade talks, Cheveldayoff and Barlow.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

The Flyers are a winner from Day 1 of the NHL Draft for their Matvei Michkov selection, writes Scott Wheeler.

"Credit to Danny Briere for taking the swing."

Arizona? Not so much.

"I think the Coyotes left real value on the board."

More on who won Round 1 of the 2023 NHL Draft and which team performed the worst here.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler's best available after Round 5:

Pronman

1. Daniil Karpovich, Yekaterinburg Jr. (Russia) defenseman — No. 47
2. Yegor Rimashevskiy, Dynamo Moscow Jr. (Russia) winger — No. 67
3. Aiden Fink, Brooks (AJHL) winger — No. 70
4. Milton Oscarson, Orebro (Sweden) center — No. 82
5. Samuel Mayer, Peterborough (OHL) defenseman — No. 84

Wheeler

1. Aiden Fink, Brooks (AJHL) winger — No. 73
2. Emil Jarventie, Ilves (Finland) winger — No. 79
3. Connor Lewis, Kamloops (WHL) winger — No. 82
4. Mazden Leslie, Vancouver (WHL) defenseman — No. 94

With their fifth-round pick and second selection of the draft, the Leafs take 6-foot-1 center Hudson Malinoski (AJHL).

Malinoski scored 69 points in 44 games last season with the AJHL's Brooks Bandits and is committed to Providence College next season. He joins forward Easton Cowan, the Leafs' first-round pick, as the team's only two draftees thus far.

If there was a superlative for coolest name in the NHL Draft, it'd go to Marcel Marcel.

The big, competitive winger (QMJHL) is the Blackhawks' 131st pick. He was eligible to be selected at the 2022 NHL Draft, but wasn't chosen by any of the 32 teams.

Now, the forward joins Connor Bedard, Oliver Moore and other draftees in Chicago.

Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler's best available after Round 4:

Pronman

1. Daniil Karpovich, Yekaterinburg Jr. (Russia) defenseman — No. 47
2. Cameron Allen, Guelph (OHL) defenseman — No. 52
3. Yegor Rimashevskiy, Dynamo Moscow Jr. (Russia) winger — No. 67
4. Aiden Fink, Brooks (AJHL) winger — No. 70
5. Scott Ratzlaff, Seattle (WHL) goaltender — No. 72

Wheeler

1. Scott Ratzlaff, Seattle (WHL) goaltender — No. 69
2. Aiden Fink, Brooks (AJHL) winger — No. 73
3. Emil Jarventie, Ilves (Finland) winger — No. 79
4. Connor Lewis, Kamloops (WHL) winger — No. 82
5. Matthew Mania, Sudbury (OHL) defenseman — No. 88

We've seen a fair number of trades starting in the second round of the NHL Draft. Here are The Athletic's trade grades:

Oilers send forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Red Wings for future considerations.

• Red Wings grade: B+
• Oilers grade: C

Islanders send forward Josh Bailey and a second-round pick in 2026 to the Blackhawks for future considerations.

• Blackhawks grade: A-
• Islanders grade: C+

Lightning trade Corey Perry (signing rights) to Blackhawks for seventh-round pick in 2024.

• Blackhawks grade: C
• Lightning grade: C+

Find further trade grades, details and breakdowns here.

I'm pretty happy with the Flyers' draft so far.

Two goalies are a bit eyebrow raising, but they are clearly high on Carson Bjarnason (WHL) and I tend to trust their ability to find under-the-radar Euro Gs. They just scout that world more than most teams (Ersson, Kolosov).

I also really like the Denver Barkey pick. Barkey, drafted from the OHL, ranks No. 6 on The Athletic's 'most competitive' superlative list.

Find the full breakdown of all Flyers' picks here.

Connor Bedard appears to have posted his first tweet after Round 1 of the draft.

"Honoured," he wrote.

In a following tweet, he said, "Dream come true. A moment my family and I will never forget. Thankful to so many who have helped along the way, and incredibly excited to be a part of the Blackhawks organization. Let's Go Hawks!"

The Ottawa Senators make their first pick of the draft at No. 108 and take defenseman Hoyt Stanley, who was one of the top defensem*n in the BCHL this season. He is committed to Cornell University.

The Athletic NHL Draft analyst Corey Pronman’s scouting report: Stanley’s pure toolkit gives him a real chance to make the NHL. He’s a 6-foot-2, right-shot defenseman who can both skate and handle the puck well. When he’s rushing pucks up ice or creating off the blue line he looks like an NHL defenseman. I would call him more of a transporter than a puck-mover, though, as I don’t see a ton of vision in his game. Given his length and feet, I would like to see him be more of a standout in his own end too, but that could come with time.

Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler's best available after Round 3:

Pronman

1. Luca Cagnoni, Portland (WHL) defenseman — No. 44
2. Daniil Karpovich, Yekaterinburg Jr. (Russia) defenseman — No. 47
3. Cameron Allen, Guelph (OHL) defenseman — No. 52
4. Aram Minnetian, U.S. U-18 defenseman — No. 62
5. Andrew Strathmann, Youngstown (USHL) defenseman — No. 63

Wheeler

1. Alex Ciernik, Södertälje (Sweden) winger — No. 33
2. Luca Cagnoni, Portland (WHL) defenseman — No. 45
3. Luca Pinelli, Ottawa (OHL) defenseman — No. 51
4. Aram Minnetian, U.S. U-18 defenseman — No. 52
5. Alexander Rykov, Chelmet (Russia) winger — No. 61

The Tampa Bay Lightning are sending 38-year-old forward Corey Perry to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2024 seventh-round pick.

Perry played 81 games last season, recording 12 goals and 13 assists.