It has been two years since the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and the Chicago Blackhawks are fortunate of the result. They drafted 11 times; two in the first round, three in the second round, two in the third round, and once in each of the final four rounds. The team got some good young players.

There have only been 19 players from the 2023 draft to appear in an NHL game over the first two seasons. The Blackhawks have two of them, Connor Bedard and Oliver Moore.

Bedard ranks first amongst all players drafted in 2023 in points with 128, and even though he played two full seasons, he missed 14 games as a rookie. Moore only just left university at the end of last season and played nine games for the Blackhawks, recording four points.

There are only five players in between Bedard and Moor in points from the 2023 draft, and every one of them have played over 70 games. Only six total players from this draft have even played 10 games. The group of young players separating Bedard and Moore are Adam Fantilli (81 points), Lucas Carlsson (71), Matvei Michkov (63), Zach Benson (58), and Will Smith (45).

Bedard remains the top player on the Blackhawks and that should continue to be true, but Moore took a different path as a later first-round pick and will have to work his way up from a bottom-6 role he will likely start out in next season.

This draft will start to blossom even more in 2025-26 with players starting to break into the NHL and earning more full time roles. Three 2023 draft picks to still watch, not next season, but beyond, are Adam Gajan, Roman Kantserov, and Nick Lardis. All should be able to find their way to the NHL.

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