The 2023 NHL Draft Lottery took place on Monday night, which meant that hockey fans were going to learn where Connor Bedard will start his NHL career. Bedard, an 17-year-old center from Canada, is considered a franchise-changing prospect, the sort of player who made it easy for multiple teams to justify tanking down the home stretch of the most recent season.
ESPN broadcast the Draft Lottery this year, making an especially big deal out of the fact that Bedard is in this draft. The decision was made to cut to commercial after the fourth pick was announced, and after we learned that is going to the San Jose Sharks, the camera cut away to Bedard highlights. Kevin Weekes told viewers that we got “our first change in the order,” but there was just one problem: everything was chalk through the Sharks’ pick.
What ended up happening was that Weekes spoiled what was going to happen with the third pick when they got back from commercial, when the Columbus Blue Jackets fell to No. 3.
Quite the snafu here during ESPN’s Draft Lottery broadcast. Host Kevin Weekes announces that the Columbus Blue Jackets are drafting third. pic.twitter.com/yLpJoautLo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 9, 2023
Sure enough, when ESPN returned from commercial, it was announced that Columbus — which had the second-best odds at the No. 1 pick — was going to fall to third.
Only, the actual pick wasn’t revealed until after a commercial break. pic.twitter.com/x7YqO19Efc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 9, 2023
The main beneficiaries of the ping pong balls bouncing this was were the Chicago Blackhawks, which entered the night with the third-best odds at picking first but jumped the Blue Jackets and the Anaheim Ducks to get the top spot in the draft.