Connor Bedard learning the NHL isn’t easy – but he’ll dominate it soon enough

Connor Bedard slouched, his entire body bending down to the ice in a downward dog pose.

Did Joseph Woll really stop that?

It was partway through Bedard’s first regular-season visit to Scotiabank Arena and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ media circus. He was trying to break a 1-1 tie midway through the second period. He set up for that potent, deceptive wrist shot, the primary tool that made him 2023’s No. 1 overall draft pick. And…Woll flashed the leather. Bedard deflated like a balloon. He’s simply used to that shot going in. 

Between the Regina Pats in the regular season and playoffs and the World Junior Championship last year, Bedard scored – wait for it – 90 goals in the 71 hockey games he played in 2022-23. When you’re that generationally brilliant, you expect dominance at every rung of your career.

So it’s understandable to see Bedard enduring a minor learning curve four games into his NHL career, each of which has come on the road. It doesn’t come from a sense of entitlement; he’s known to be such a competitive person that he seemingly demands perfection from himself right away. His Blackhawks came away with an impressive 4-1 win over a previously undefeated Leafs team, but he didn’t find the score sheet despite plenty of great looks. His body language showed frustration, but his coach didn’t see failure.

“He played a responsible game tonight,” said Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson. “Again he was pretty detailed in his game and he got his chances. He was feeling it out early, and then when he broke loose in that first period, had that real nice line rush, I think that got him more confidence in the game, and he really started making plays in the second period. He’s just going to grow and get better and learn who he’s playing against, it’s gonna help as well.”

The surface stat line of one goal and three points in four games doesn’t scream dominance just yet. Bedard has to get used to the NHL game’s little second-to-second battles. That includes understanding that the goalies will be that much better, sometimes athletic enough to prevent what look like sure goals. It means having less time to release a perfect shot when he’s placed in a prime scoring position. It even includes understanding how to time a faceoff, as he learned Monday when he got booted from a draw against Auston Matthews.

But even if Bedard is hard on himself, everything he has shown so far suggests the goals will soon come by the bushel. He had a team-high four individual scoring chances at 5-on-5 on Monday. So far this season, he leads Chicago in (deep breath): Shots, expected goals, shot attempts, scoring chances, rush attempts and rebounds created. Bedard has more than twice as many scoring chances as the second-best Blackhawk at 5-on-5.

More gems from Natural Stat Trick: on a per-60-minute basis: among 144 NHL forwards who have played at least 30 mins at 5-on-5 so far this season, Bedard sits third in shots per 60, second in individual expected goals per 60, first in scoring chances per 60 and eighth in high-danger chances per 60. In terms of driving the play as an offensive weapon, he’s been as deadly as any player in the league across the first week of his career.

The explosion is coming. 

And while Bedard wore a few “Are you kidding me?” expressions Monday, it doesn’t sound like he’s letting the expectations weigh him down too much early on this season. As defenseman Alex Vlasic said, he was impressed when Bedard shrugged off being booed every time he touched the puck in Saturday’s game in Montreal against the Canadiens. Rather than shrink under the attention, Bedard soaked in the moment and thought it was funny. He had surprising appreciation and perspective considering he just turned 18 in July.

“He’s extremely mature for his age,” Vlasic said. That’s something a lot of people admire about him. (John Tavares) said the other day that he’s a lot like (Sidney Crosby) – just the way he handles himself, he’s super humble and he’s definitely all about the team.”

“The kid is unbelievable,” said Blackhawks right winger MacKenzie Entwistle. “Not only as a player but also as a person. For him to start on the road, pretty tough cities to play in, just shows the character of who he is, the person he is and the player he is. He’s gotten a lot of chances and soon they’re going to start going in. He’s an awesome guy in the room and awesome teammate.”

Bedard wasn’t made available to the media firing squad after Monday’s game. But if he continues playing the way he has so far, he might be returning to Toronto sooner than he thinks – for the All-Star Game this winter.

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