This NHL team could become a Chicago Blackhawks rival soon

The 2023 NHL Draft is fast approaching. The Chicago Blackhawks won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery and will select the generational talent known as Connor Bedard with the first overall pick.

The Anaheim Ducks won the second overall pick in the draft which will allow them to take Adam Fantilli out of the University of Michigan. These are the only two selections that are pretty much set in stone.

There aren’t many people, including the brass in Anaheim, that believe that Connor Bedard isn’t a generational talent that will change the NHL right away.

That doesn’t mean that Fantilli won’t be extra motivated every time he plays against Bedard. That also doesn’t mean that the second-overall pick can’t outdo the first-overall pick in any given game or playoff series.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks are getting amazing players.

We saw a prime example of that when Jack Eichel’s Vegas Golden Knights took down Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs this year. Eichel will always be in McDavid’s shadow after going second right behind him in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Eichel is not as good as McDavid but the rivalry will always be there. It is even true following the big Eichel trade last year.

Don’t be surprised if Anaheim and Chicago’s rivalry grows a bit over the next few years. Fantilli is going to be a very good player with the Ducks and he is walking into a very nice situation for himself.

He will have other young stars to play with like Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Mason McTavis, and Jamie Drysdale amongst others. That is a young core that will grow into a contender together.

He will also likely be very motivated as the number two pick. He wants to be great and help his team win. When they play against the Blackhawks, that might cause some really intense games. The player rivalry could absolutely turn into a team rivalry.

We’ve seen it with pairs like Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid along with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. It makes for great theatre.

Hopefully, both of these teams meet in the playoffs at some point in the future. That will likely mean that both players turned into stars that get their teams into big moments.

It was fun when Chicago and Anaheim met in the 2015 Western Conference Finals as it went all the way to game seven. We could see a rivalry bud if it starts to happen more frequently led by these two studs at the top of the draft.