Chicago Blackhawks win NHL Draft Lottery, will get 1st overall pick in June draft

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The National Hockey League held its annual Draft Lottery Monday night, and the Chicago Blackhawks won the first pick.

ABC7 got reaction at the United Center on Monday night.

Connor Bedard is widely expected to be the top pick in the draft.

They are calling him a generational talent. He's a 17-year-old who Canadian center experts think, one day, will be regarded in the same lofty terms as recently departed franchise icons Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

Blackhawks employees at the United Center reacted with cheers to the lottery balls falling their way, and for good reason. Bedard is an electrifying scorer who, this past season, scored 71 goals in just 56 games in the Western Hockey League. He starred for the national junior team, and has been considered someone to watch since childhood.

At the Third Rail Tavern near the Untied Center, anxious Blackhawks fans wouldn't allow themselves the thought that the hockey gods would once again bestow promise.

"It was pretty cool. I was just looking at her the entire time. My hair was standing up. I was freaking out, but it is really cool, because they needed something like this, you know?" said Sean Miller.

Nicole Mouser also weighed in.

"I support Chicago, so I am excited. I feel like a good luck charm," Mouser said. "When it comes to Chicago icons, the next, Patrick Kane, the next Jonathan Toews, the next Brett Hull, the next Stan Mikita, franchise icon for sure."

The Blackhawks had the third-best odds to pick first in the draft at 11.5%. The Anaheim Ducks have the best odds at 18.5% and the Columbus Blue Jackets have 13.5%.

The last time the Blackhawks picked number one overall in the draft was 2008, when they selected Patrick Kane.

The Hawks could officially draft Bedard next month, and the month after, he turns 18.

The NHL Draft will be held on June 28.