Connor Bedard Forgoing The 2025 IIHF Men's World Championship: What Is His Offseason Focus?

Bedard's 2024-25 Season

Bedard was surrounded by quite a group of characters that I hazard to call an NHL roster. It hurt his production. Bedard played with over 40 different line combinations throughout 82 games. There are a lot of factors that contributed to Bedard's underwhelming season that were out of his control. Chalk it up to coaching and personnel management. External forces aside, what did Bedard have control over that he didn't excel in?

Bedard finished the season with 23 goals and 67 points over 82 games. That isn't bad for a 19-year-old. One of the world's greatest hockey players, who had a slower start to his NHL career, said he would have "killed for that" at 19. That quote is from Nathan MacKinnon. 

The stats that Bedard has put up at 19 are incredible. But Bedard was drafted with the very high (and unfair) bar of being great. 

At 5-on-5, Bedard scored 11 goals and 24 assists in 82 games. In his rookie season, Bedard scored 16 goals at 5-on-5 and 18 assists over 68 games. That's a pace for 19 goals and 21 assists over 82 games. This season, Bedard took 6.2 shots per hour at 5-on-5 compared to 7.82/60 last season. 

Bedard's wrist shot is his most dangerous weapon, and he needs to unleash that as much as possible. Bedard was drafted to score goals. So, while there is an expectation to be somewhat defensively savvy as a center, that should not be the focus of his development. We care about what he does in the offensive zone. 

Corey Sznajder's All Three Zones data has Bedard generating shots on goal only slightly above the league average, down from last year. He generated fewer shots on goal and created fewer shots on goal for his teammates. 

Bedard excelled in controlled entries and creating scoring chances following zone entries. In relation to the league, he was above average. But also down from last season. 

In his rookie season, Bedard made a lot of entries down the middle. He tried things that made hockey snobs turn their noses up in disgust because "this isn't the CHL." This year, Bedard made a lot of delayed wide entries. This spreads the opponent's defense but creates fewer individual chances. Going down the middle is not an easy task given Bedard's size, but delaying wide slows the attack. I'm not sure if this is a coaching thing or if Bedard wasn't as confident in his game. But it was noticeably different from his first year.

What is Bedard Working On?

Scott Powers recently wrote an article discussing Connor Bedard's offseason plans. Understandably, Bedard won't show his hand. But he did mention speed as an area he would like to improve. 

This season, Bedard ranked below the 50th percentile in top skating speed. Bedard logged in 21.44 mph while the league average was 22.18, according to NHL Edge's data. Last season, Bedard ranked in the 75th percentile with a top skating speed of 22.73. 

Will Bedard ever be as fast as Nathan MacKinnon? No. Most likely not. But improving his speed will be necessary if Bedard is going to come close to his pre-draft hype. 

Bedard will work closely on a number of other skills. He's a professional who eats, breathes, and sleeps hockey. If there's any doubt that Bedard won't come out of this summer a better player, he's forgoing playing with his idol on the international stage to take a step in his development. 

Let me be clear, there isn't anything to worry about in regards to Bedard taking the next step. That will happen. The concern is if Bedard will turn into the goal-scoring monster that he was drafted to become. Improving his speed will make him lethal on zone entries. The goals will come. Add in fresh, like-minded players, and Blackhawks fans have a lot to look forward to in Bedard's coming years.