Blackhawks News: Wild help the tank, Bedard eliminated, and more

The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Minnesota Wild on Monday night at the United Center. It was game 80 as they are close to wrapping up the 2022-23 regular season. Obviously, the draft lottery has been more on their mind than the playoffs since game number one of the season.

Well, their draft stock was helped out a lot by the Minnesota Wild in this one as they completed a rally to get the big road win. With playoff seeding on the line (including a chance to win the Central Division), Minnesota needed the win almost as bad as the Hawks needed the loss.

The Hawks thoroughly outplayed the Wild in this one. They outshot them 42-22 which is almost double and had the lead well into the third period. The Wild had two goals from Marcus Johansson to get the tie and the lead within just a few minutes of each other.

It was an amazing night for the tank. Certain players looked good, they played well, they dominated a good team, and they didn’t get a single point. That is simply amazing.

They are battling with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks for the best odds in the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery.

Columbus has three more with the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Buffalo Sabres. Anaheim has two left with the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings. The Jackets are tied with the Hawks at 56 points but they have that extra game and Anaheim is at 58.

There was plenty of big hockey news that Blackhawks fans will be interested in.

Connor Bedard is eliminated

The Saskatoon Blades won game seven in their WHL playoff series against the Regina Pats on Monday night which means that Connor Bedard’s season is over. He had 20 points in those seven games for Regina. Now, he will start gearing toward the 2023 NHL Draft.

Obviously, the battle for the top odds that was discussed before is for Connor Bedard who has the most hype around him as a prospect since Connor McDavid back in 2015. The Chicago Blackhawks would certainly love to add a guy like that as he would turn their franchise around in a heartbeat.

Other Blackhawks/NHL News

The Chicago Blackhawks have two more games. They will play against the two Pennsylvania teams as they head there to play the Pittsburgh Penguins and then come home to play the Philadelphia Flyers.

There will be a lot of speculation during that Flyers game about captain Jonathan Toews. Will that be the last game he ever plays for Chicago or in the NHL in general? It is sure to be emotional.

Other races in the league are also very interesting. The top of every division is still to be determined except for the Atlantic Division which is totally locked and loaded the way it is. It is fair to think that at least one of the other three will have a big shift before we reach the end.

The Wild Card standings are also crazy. The Western Conference is the only one with seven teams clinched. One of the Winnipeg Jets or Nashville Predators will claim the last one with the edge going to the Jets based on math.

In the east, the Buffalo Sabres are still mathematically intact but it feels like the two spots are going to go to two of the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, or Florida Panthers. It is a wild run to the finish line for everyone in all these different races.