One Year Later: Connor Bedard dominating NHL ranks
By the Western Hockey League / Matthew DeMille
One year ago, Connor Bedard was sitting in the stands of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn when he heard his name called out as the first-overall selection at the 2023 NHL Draft.
After striding across the stage with a smile plastered across his face and donning the Chicago Blackhawks’ iconic red, white, and black threads for the first time, the soon-to-be NHL star admitted how excited he was to make the move to the Windy City.
“I can’t wait to get to get to Chicago and get to work,” grinned Bedard.
The @NHLBlackhawks made @WHLPats captain Connor Bedard the first-overall selection in the 2023 #NHLDraft Wednesday evening.
📰 | https://t.co/xbt1vEGLtw pic.twitter.com/jAbwqc8byp
— The WHL (@TheWHL) June 28, 2023
While stoked to be the latest member of the Blackhawks franchise, his selection also meant dealing with a bittersweet graduation from the place where he first cut his teeth as an exceptional, 14-year-old talent – the city of Regina and the WHL.
“I was a young kid and I didn’t know what to expect, but that city takes you in as one of their own,” Bedard shared in a post-draft interview last June.
“The last three years have been everything I’ve ever wanted from a development standpoint.”
Albeit, Bedard’s urge for development quickly turned to sheer domination.
Prior to headlining the 2023 NHL Draft, the North Vancouver, B.C. product skated in 134 regular season games with the Pats, recording 134 goals and 137 assists for 271 career points. In the 2022-23 regular season – his third and ultimate campaign with the Pats – Bedard led the WHL in scoring with 143 points (71 goals–72 assists) in 57 games. This marked the second straight season where Bedard eclipsed the 100-point plateau and his 71 regular season goals were the most by an NHL Draft-eligible skater since 1998-99.
Along with a shelf bursting with individual scoring records – both within the Pats ranks and League-wide – Bedard also found his name etched on a plethora of junior hockey awards. Bedard began his career with the Pats as the WHL’s Rookie of the Year during the 2020-21 season, leading all rookies in goals (12), assists (16), and points (28). Bedard would then tack on five more awards at the conclusion of his final season in the Western League – winning the Bob Clarke Trophy and Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Top Scorer and Player of the Year along with the CHL’s Top Scorer Award, Top Draft Prospect Award, and Player of the Year Award at the end of the 2022-23 season.
The WHL Player of the Year, and winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy is Connor Bedard of the @WHLPats!
📰 | https://t.co/KBgORszeNV#WHLAwards | @KiaCanada | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/Y9afPSN4GJ
— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 11, 2023
Internationally, the Pats captain also struck gold on several occasions. Bedard proudly boasts a gold medal from the IIHF U18 World Championships (2021) and is a two-time winner of the IIHF World Junior Championship (2022 and 2023) with Canada.
In what was a surprise to none, Bedard’s jump to the NHL level also came with relative ease.
Itching to make a name for himself with the Blackhawks, the 18-year-old superstar made his debut on October 10, 2023, against his childhood hero Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins. It was on the same night that the rookie collected his first career point – a secondary assist on the Blackhawks’ opening goal of the season.
His first career NHL goal came one day later, as he opened the scoring against the Boston Bruins on October 11, 2023, with a perfectly manoeuvred wrap-around try.
CONNOR BEDARD WITH HIS FIRST NHL GOAL 🥳🚨 pic.twitter.com/pQeHIDx7WO
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 11, 2023
Despite clocking in as one of the youngest players in the League, Bedard looked like an NHL regular through the entirety of his inaugural regular season campaign. By early January, the first-overall selection was a two-time NHL Rookie of the Month for both November and December and had already broken the internet by scoring a lacrosse-style goal against the St. Louis Blues on December 23, 2023.
Even a fractured jaw sustained in January couldn’t sideline Bedard for long. Missing just over a month of action after taking a high hit against the New Jersey Devils on January 5, Bedard – fishbowl cage in hand – made his long-awaited return after missing 14 straight games.
⚠️ CONNOR BEDARD MICHIGAN GOAL‼️ THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/KPWcsVGzo0
— NHL (@NHL) December 24, 2023
The aftermath: more domination from the budding phenom.
Bouncing from breakout game to breakout game, Bedard rewrote rookie record after rookie record in the Blackhawks’ history book. The WHL alumnus became the third youngest player in Blackhawks’ history to score his first NHL goal, the youngest Blackhawks player to record a multi-goal game, and tied the franchise record for most points by a rookie in a single game, with five.
Bedard then rounded out his first season in the NHL by standing atop all rookies in goals (22) and points (61). Minnesota Wild blueliner Brock Faber, who sat second in rookie scoring, wound up 14 points behind Bedard despite playing in 14 more contests. His 61 points through 68 games was also the leading benchmark among Blackhawks skaters.
Bedard also received his third NHL Rookie of the Month honours in March, and, for his season-long efforts, was named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. He shares the feat with Minnesota’s Brock Faber and New Jersey’s Luke Hughes.
Connor Bedard, Brock Faber and Luke Hughes are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Calder Memorial Trophy. https://t.co/BDtb5gty9c #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/Spvjg5Y1Tc
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 30, 2024
Bedard’s historic first season was met with high praise from Blackhawks’ general manager Kyle Davidson.
“I don’t think anyone can adequately quantify the degree of difficulty of what [Connor] had to deal with off the ice to then go and perform on the ice,” Davidson shared with Blackhawks.com in April.
“He’s an 18-year-old player that had to go through more media attention than any player in recent memory, and probably more than any player entering the league ever just given the social media age and the age that we’re in right now. I thought it was extremely impressive.”
In the eyes of Bedard, his first season with the Blackhawks was something that needs future improvement. Posting a record of 23-53-6, the Blackhawks finished 31st in League standings.
“I’m not happy with [the result],” admitted Bedard in his end-of-season availability.
“That gives you an opportunity to get better and grow and come into next year hungry and we’re all going to be super motivated coming into next year.”
Yet, the rookie isn’t letting his team’s on-ice finish hamper what was a memorable year playing in front of the Chicago faithful. At only 18 years old, the friendly faces of the Windy City made his experience even more enjoyable.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for everything this year that the fans did. Right when I got drafted, it was so much support.”
