Hockey's next big thing is headed to Chicago

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While the NHL's eight remaining playoff teams battle for the Stanley Cup, another highly coveted prize was awarded last night. Chicago won the draft lottery and the chance to select 17-year-old phenom Connor Bedard, the most exciting hockey prospect since Connor McDavid entered the league eight years ago.

Like McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky before him, Bedard was touted as a "generational" talent long before becoming eligible for the draft. In 2020, the North Vancouver native was the first player ever granted "exceptional" status by the Western Hockey League, allowing him to join the Regina Pats a year early. The COVID pandemic cut his rookie season short, but Bedard scored 12 goals in 15 games before becoming the youngest 50-goal scorer in WHL history the next year. He exploded for 71 goals in 57 games this past season, plus another 10 in a seven-game playoff defeat.

Canadians started hearing more about Bedard leading up to the ill-fated world junior championship that began in late December 2021 in Edmonton. The tournament was abandoned after just a few games due to COVID outbreaks, but not before Bedard became the youngest player ever to score four goals in a single contest. When the event was rebooted last summer, Bedard scored four times in seven games to help Canada to the gold medal.

WATCH | Chicago lands No. 1 pick in NHL draft lottery:

Bedard's national — and international — profile skyrocketed at this year's world juniors in Halifax, where he put together one of the most dazzling performances in the event's history. As the youngest