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Connor Bedard’s relationship with the Chicago Blackhawks on the rocks?

Originally posted on Rinksiders | By Simon Szyszkowski | Last updated Mar 27, 2025 11:14 AM ET

The Chicago Blackhawks are currently in the midst of another poor season at the very bottom of the NHL. They sit in 31st place, only four points above the bottom-feeding San Jose Sharks.

To say that this has been a surprise would be false. Most analysts prior to the year would’ve certainly predicted the Blackhawks to be exactly where they are now. They aren’t surpassing any expectations, but they aren’t doing worse than expected either.

Chicago’s rebuild is in the exact spot most assumed it would be. Losing comes with consequences, though, and it is starting to seem like there may be a large crack in their grand plan.

Connor Bedard has not had the season some hoped he would have and is beginning to show signs of frustration in Chicago. Is Bedard’s relationship with the Blackhawks on the rocks?

A promising start

Connor Bedard was drafted first overall in the 2023 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks after putting together an incredible season with the Regina Pats of the WHL. He brought a buzz with him that I am not sure we have truly seen since Connor McDavid’s entry to the NHL.

Fans filled rinks to see him whenever Chicago was on the road, and he was quickly elevated to a very high pedestal by most. His rookie year wouldn’t disappoint either. He would play in 68 games for the Blackhawks, putting up 22 goals, 39 assists, and 61 points.

Despite missing around six weeks midseason due to fracturing his jaw, he still played well enough to earn the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL.

Bedard dominating without help

Unfortunately, team success would not follow. The Chicago Blackhawks still finished near the bottom of the league despite the addition of Connor Bedard. They struggled to find offensive help for their young star.

According to MoneyPuck, Connor Bedard played at least 75 minutes with five separate line combinations. Here are all of the players on those lines:

Linemate	Points in 2023–24
Philipp Kurashev	54
Nick Foligno	37
Jason Dickinson	35
Ryan Donato	30
Anthony Beauvillier	17
Lukas Reichel	16

Philipp Kurashev was the only player on this list who had a fairly solid year, and unsurprisingly, he was one of the players who played with Bedard the most. Other than Kurashev, there really was not much for Bedard to work with. The hope was that this would change this season.

Sophomore slump

So far this season, Connor Bedard has struggled a bit more than he did in his rookie campaign. His numbers have seen a drop compared to his rookie season and many have begun to notice that he has seemed visibly frustrated during Blackhawks games.

Year	GP	G	A	PTS	PIMs	G/GP	PTS/GP
2023–24	68	22	39	61	28	0.32	0.90
2024–25	72	20	37	57	62	0.28	0.79

Earlier in March, he managed to get 10-minute misconducts in back-to-back games and has managed to double his PIMs compared to last season. Some players have come to his defence, with Nathan MacKinnon saying in an interview with The Athletic that:

“He’s a nineteen-year-old kid and he’s close to a point a game, I’d have killed for that when I was nineteen. I had like 30 points. He’s doing great.” -Nathan MacKinnon

MacKinnon definitely has a point. Absolutely nobody should be judging Bedard’s potential based off what he is doing right now. He has plenty of time to improve and continue to grow as a player.

His slump has been minor as well—57 points in 72 games still has him first on the Chicago Blackhawks. Compared to some of the other very hyped up centres of the last decade or so, he lands in the middle of the pack.

Player	PTS/GP in second season
Connor McDavid	1.21
Auston Matthews	1.01
Connor Bedard	0.79
Nathan MacKinnon	0.59

It probably isn’t fair to compare him to any of these three other players, but even when you do, he doesn’t look bad by any means. Connor Bedard still has an incredibly bright future; the Blackhawks just need to hope that he still wants to spend it with them.

Has the Chicago Blackhawks’ contention clock started?

If you asked most people before the season, they would probably have told you that the Chicago Blackhawks have all the time in the world to build themselves back up as a contender.

If the rumours are true and Connor Bedard is beginning to grow frustrated, that might not be the case. No player likes to lose, and if you can’t give Bedard a reason to want to stay, there is no reason why he couldn’t potentially start dreaming of greener pastures.

His contract doesn’t end until 2026, when he will be able to enter free agency as a restricted free agent. He will not become an unrestricted free agent until 2030. That gives the Blackhawks roughly five years to right the ship, can they keep Bedard happy in the meantime?

This article first appeared on Rinksiders and was syndicated with permission.

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