Chicago Blackhawks NHL Draft picks 2023: When do the Hawks pick? Order and more explained

The first round of the 2023 NHL Draft happens on Wednesday, June 28, and the Chicago Blackhawks will kick off the draft as they select first overall.

The Blackhawks won the draft lottery to jump up from third overall to get the right to select Connor Bedard. When Chicago won the draft lottery, they knew their entire rebuild can go much quicker.

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson told NHL.com:

"When our logo flipped over, I was just, 'Wow.' You understand the impact that a first overall pick can have and having the first overall pick in the right year. Hopefully that's what we've got here and it can change a franchise, it can change a city and it can change an era in a team's history.

"There's a lot of weight to that and a lot of significance to that. When that No. 1 card flipped over and it was our logo, it hits you all at once because you think about it in the lead-up and you think about what could be and you don't let yourself go there that often, because chances were we weren't going to see that come to fruition."

Although the Chicago Blackhawks won the draft lottery, they won't be selecting the first pick of every round. Instead, round two through seven are just in reverse order of the standings, which means the Blackhawks will be picking third, unless they trade the pick or acquire others.

Chicago also enters the 2023 NHL Draft with 11 picks, including two in the first round and four in the second round. They acquired the extra first-round from Tampa Bay in the Brandon Hagel trade. The extra seconds were acquired in trades from the Lightning, the New York Rangers, and the Ottawa Senators.

With Chicago Blackhawks having so many picks so early in the draft, general manager Davidson could move some of them for NHL players. He said:

"Anytime that you're in a position to add significant talent to the organization, that's the exciting part of this. That's the point of what we're trying to do is add talent, and you need draft currency to do that, and we've got it. So, it's very exciting to start capitalizing on some of the assets."

Chicago Blackhawks 2023 NHL picks

Round 1: 1st and 19th overall

Round 2: 35th, 44th, 51st, and 55th overall

Round 3: 67th and 93rd overall

Round 4: 99th overall

Round 5: 131st overall

Round 6: None

Round 7: 195th overall