After another successful NHL draft, there is one thing that remains clear – no other country develops hockey players like Canada.
In total, more than a third of the players who have heard their name called in Nashville – 87 out of 224 – come from the land of the maple leaf. (This number includes players born outside the country, but who played in the Canadian hockey system, such as 37eoverall choice, Ethan Gauthier.)
These hockey players represent 10 members of Hockey Canada and 33 have already worn the colors of Canada in international competition.
From the first choice of the auction, red and white was in the spotlight. The Chicago Blackhawks have set their sights on two-time IIHF World Junior Championship gold medalist Connor Bedard. The player from North Vancouver, British Columbia, is only the second native of the westernmost province of the country to be claimed at the very first level, after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2012).
Bedard rewrote the World Junior record book with the most goals (17) and points (36) by a Canadian hockey player.
Adam Fantilli was claimed shortly after him when the Columbus Blue Jackets called his name third overall. He has just had a historic season on the international scene by becoming the second Canadian player – after Jonathan Toews (2007) – to win gold at the IIHF World Championship and the IIHF World Junior Championship during the same season .
A total of 12 players among the 32 claimed in the first round are from Canada; this list includes seven who helped Team Canada win gold at the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup in Red Deer (Barlow, Benson, Bonk, Molendyk, Ritchie, Wood, Yager) and three who earned bronze at the World Championship of the 2023 IIHF U18s (Barlow, Ritchie, Wood).
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) was well represented among the Canadian delegation; 68 of the 87 players selected come from 39 CHL teams, including six from the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds. The Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League led the way with 29 selections each. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League saw 10 of its players be claimed.
DRAFT CANADIAN PLAYERS – BY MEMBER
Fédération de hockey de l’Ontario (34) – Beau Akey, Cam Allen, Matthew
Andonovski, Denver Barkey, Colby Barlow, Tristan Bertucci, Sebastian
Bradshaw, Cole Brown, Jonathan Castagna, Warren Clark, Easton Cowan,
Nathaniel Day, Adam Fantilli, Cooper Foster, Brad Gardiner, Andrew Gibson,
Ethan Hay, Jacob Julien, Larry Keenan, Nick Lardis, Angus MacDonell, Ryan
MacPherson, Matthew Mayich, Ethan Miedema, Alex Pharand, Luca Pinelli,
Coulson Pitre, Carson Rehkopf, Calum Ritchie, Ryan Roobroeck, Konnor Smith,
Patrick Thomas, Zaccharya Wisdom, Florian Xhekaj
Hockey Colombie-Britannique (19) – Owen Beckner, Connor Bedard, Zach
Benson, Luca Cagnoni, Aiden Celebrini, Andrew Cristall, Lukas Dragicevic,
Terrell Goldsmith, Kaden Hammell, Jeremy Hanzel, Justin Kipkie, Connor
Levis, Thomas Milic, Tanner Molendyk, Nico Myatovic, Sawyer Mynio, Austin
Roest, Hoyt Stanley, Matthew Wood
Hockey Alberta (8) – Nate Danielson, Aiden Fink, Emmitt Finnie, Brett Hyland, Ty Mueller, Scott Ratzlaff, Gracyn Sawchyn, Koehn Ziemmer
Hockey Saskatchewan (8) – Noah Chadwick, Riley Heidt, Kalan Lind, Hudson
Malinoski, Kalem Parker, Matthew Perkins, Caden Price, Brayden Yager
Hockey Quebec (7) – Mathieu Cataford, Ethan Gauthier, Justin Gill, Rudy Guimond, Charles-Olivier Legault, Quinton Miller, Étienne Morin
Hockey Manitoba (3) – Carson Bjarnason, Jayden Perron, Carter Sotheran
Hockey Nouveau-Brunswick (3) – Dylan MacKinnon, Matteo Mann, Bradly Nadeau
Hockey Eastern Ontario (2) – Oliver Bonk, Quinton Burns
Hockey Prince Edward Island (2) – Luke Coughlin, Cam Squires
Hockey Nova Scotia (1) – Tyler Peddle
DRAFTED CANADIAN PLAYERS – FROM EXPERIENCE ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE
2023 Men’s National Team
Adam Fantilli
2023 Junior National Team
Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, Thomas Milic
2022 Junior National Team
Connor Bedard
2023 Men’s National Under-18 Team
Cam Allen, Colby Barlow, Tristan Bertucci, Carson Bjarnason, Quinton Burns,
Andrew Cristall, Lukas Dragicevic, Andrew Gibson, Riley Heidt, Nick Lardis,
Angus MacDonell, Étienne Morin, Alex Pharand, Caden Price, Calum Ritchie,
Matthew Wood
2022 Men’s National Summer Under-18 Team
Cam Allen, Denver Barkey, Colby Barlow, Zach Benson, Carson Bjarnason,
Oliver Bonk, Mathieu Cataford, Andrew Cristall, Ethan Gauthier, Riley
Heidt, Kalan Lind, Dylan MacKinnon, Tanner Molendyk, Caden Price, Scott
Ratzlaff, Carson Rehkopf, Calum Ritchie, Matthew Wood, Brayden Yager
2022 Men’s National Under-18 Team
Connor Bedard, Lukas Dragicevic, Adam Fantilli, Kalem Parker, Matthew Wood
2021 Men’s National Under-18 Team
Connor Bedard, Thomas Milic
2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge
Charles-Olivier Legault (White), Thomas Milic (Red)
2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Nate Danielson, Adam Fantilli
2022 World Junior A Challenge
Aiden Celebrini (West), Aiden Fink (West), Hudson Malinoski (West)
