Which is the most interesting team at the 2023 NHL Draft?

The decade’s most anticipated NHL Draft is just days away. On top of the immense ceilings presented by top prospects Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli and Matvei Michkov, intrigue looms in the form of potential trades. With a weak UFA class, trades may be the best way for teams to improve.

With that in mind: Who is your most interesting team at the 2023 NHL Draft? Whether it’s because of their draft position, pick capital, potential trades or something else, whom do you have your eye on?

MATT LARKIN: I’ll stroll onto the 18^th green for my tap-in putt here and say The St. Louis Blues. Everyone and their dog knows that they’re unlikely to use all three of their first-round picks. With Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas just beginning their matching eight-year extensions, the Blues hope they can reload rather than rebuild, just as GM Doug Armstrong did in the summer of 2018 when, after St. Louis missed the playoffs, he made the big Ryan O’Reilly trade. Can Army pull off another blockbuster? I say yes.

NICK ALBERGA: For me, it has to be the Winnipeg Jets. Unbelievably, there seems to be a world where all of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, and Blake Wheeler may not be back with the team next season. If the rumors are true, I’m curious to see what the Jets get back in some of these prospective deals. Furthermore, the draft seems like a good place to kick off the festivities if you’re Kevin Cheveldayoff. Currently, Winnipeg has no second-, fourth- or sixth-round pick in this year’s draft. That said, something tells me their draft board could look a lot different if some of these deals come to fruition over the next couple of days.

MIKE MCKENNA: After news dropped Thursday that a mass exodus is imminent, it’s all eyes on the Calgary Flames. Do deals get done in advance of the draft? On the floor? Noah Hanifin wants out. So does Mikael Backlund, Tyler Toffoli, and potentially Elias Lindholm. New GM Craig Conroy has his hands full. And that’s not even counting the goaltending situation, which is currently a three-headed monster with Jacob Markstrom, Dan Vladar, and Dustin Wolf all vying for an NHL gig. There are a few teams that would be interested in Markstrom, but he has a full no-movement clause. Dan Vladar is on a very friendly two-year, $2.2 million AAV contract. And Dustin Wolf was just named the AHL’s MVP and has been the best netminder in that league for two consecutive seasons. All signs point to Vladar being the odd man out. But he’s also only 25 years old. Markstrom is 33. Not easy for Conroy to navigate. Calgary doesn’t pick until 16th in the 2023 NHL Draft: could any of the aforementioned trade chips bring them a higher selection? Arizona has two picks in the top twelve and St. Louis has three in the first round, including No. 10 overall. Who knows. But the Flames are staring a retool directly in the face when they planned on being able to compete for the Stanley Cup next season. It’s trial by fire for Conroy.

STEVEN ELLIS: There are a ton of great options here, but I’ll go a little off the board: the Detroit Red Wings. I like where they have positioned themselves with their club and feel like they’re not too far away. But they have an interesting situation: two first-round picks, and a need for a high-end forward. Could they ship one out to land Alex DeBrincat? Or maybe Travis Konecny? First-rounders have incredible value this year (and I typically think they’re quite overvalued). Steve Yzerman said they plan on keeping the picks, but I’m not sure I fully believe him. If he does keep them, they’ll have two top-20 picks, giving them, in theory, two excellent prospects in a stacked class. Either way, it’s a win-win scenario.

FRANK SERAVALLI: I don’t need to stray any further than my own backyard. The Philadelphia Flyers are itching to make moves under new GM Danny Briere. They’d love to garner not just another first-round pick, but move up even higher than the 22nd spot where their second pick in the round is positioned. But it’s not only from a Draft perspective. It doesn’t seem like it’s fully registered with fans in the Philadelphia market or beyond yet that this Flyers team is embarking on a full-scale rebuild. They are tearing it down. That means everyone is available. From Travis Konecny to Carter Hart to Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo and Scott Laughton. There are a bunch of really interesting, useful pieces for Briere to seize value on. We’re always looking for intrigue in terms of teams that are trying to improve, but sometimes the teams taking it down to the studs are equally as interesting.