The Connor Bedard hype is unescapable and the NHL wants you to know it

The Chicago Blackhawks are projecting a 17% increase in overall ticket sales and a 26% increase in revenue growth over their initial forecast for the 2023-24 season.

After winning the 2023 NHL Draft lottery, the Blackhawks sold $5.2 million in new season-ticket packages, and they’ve nearly doubled their season-ticket sales since drafting Bedard No. 1 overall at the end of June.

Bedard also has the highest-selling jersey in the NHL since the draft in both the U.S. and Canada.

"It's serious stuff," Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said, via NBC Chicago. "The attention, the level of demand on him has been very high, unlike anything that I've seen for a young player since I've been around the Blackhawks. He's handled it with a maturity so far beyond 18 years. It's been really impressive to watch.”

Everyone expects greatness from Bedard.

EA Sports ran a career simulation after the draft in which it projected how Bedard’s career would play out. Although it’s just a video game, the EA simulation had Bedard ending his career fourth all-time in points and sixth all-time in both goals and assists.

After scoring his first career goal in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, TNT even displayed a graphic showing Bedard’s (nonexistent) pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record.

It’s been clear since the moment he was drafted, Bedard isn’t your typical No. 1 overall pick. 

But are we ready for a world where national television broadcasts pan to shots of the rookie center mid-game sitting in the Blackhawks locker room? That’s it, just sitting. Or one where NHL analysts spend several minutes discussing what Bedard had for breakfast or how many hours he slept on the team flight before his next game?

It’s clear the NHL does not care because — to put it bluntly — the more people talk about Bedard, the better it is for the NHL’s bottom line.