Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle DavidsonChase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty ImagesYoung Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson's shocked expression as Bill Daly revealed the Blackhawks won the lottery over the heavily favorited Ducks said it all.
"I'm feeling a little bit stunned, to be honest. We have staff in the next room I heard go nuts," the 34-year-old said, still perplexed, on the ESPN broadcast. "I'm a little bit speechless, to be honest."
Breaking news, world: Tanking often works in the NHL, whether we like it or not. It isn't foolproof—the Sabres in recent years come to mind—but it generally yields quicker success than maintaining a middling roster (Looking at you, Nashville).
The Blackhawks weren't shy about their intentions since the start of the 2021-22 season, aggressively gutting the roster. Trading away franchise legend Patrick Kane was the icing on the Bedard cake at the 2023 deadline. Although the Blackhawks didn't lose enough this season to be the last-place team in the league, Davidson did enough of a teardown to ensure they ended up in the bottom three.
Nevertheless, whatever you feel about tanking, the Blackhawks winning the Bedard sweepstakes will reflect positively on his legacy. He'll always be associated with Bedard now, and he deserves at least a tip of the hat for going all-in to get him—even if luck (or, again, whatever you want to call it) played an even bigger role.
Oh, and according to CapFriendly, the Blackhawks currently have over $41 million in projected cap space for 2023-24 heading into the offseason. Although Davidson is adamant about not rushing the rebuild, you have to wonder what he can do with all that cap space to build around Bedard.
There's a case to be made—and some have argued passionately after the draft lottery result—that the Blackhawks shouldn't have been even in the position to win the lottery after the franchise's negligence surrounding the Kyle Beach sexual assault case.
In December 2021, the Blackhawks settled a lawsuit with Beach after the former player said the team failed to act after he informed them that he was sexually assaulted by former video coach Brad Aldrich.
But the league didn't penalize Chicago when it came to the draft.
Among the fallout, though, was the resignation of former general manager Stan Bowman and the promotion of Davidson from assistant general manager. Now, after plenty of bad days to be Kyle Davidson in his Blackhawks tenure, this certainly wasn't one of them.
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