Connor Bedard poised, relaxed heading into second season

The 2022-23 hockey season was Connor Bedard mania. From the WHL to the NHL to the international stage, the year belonged to the North Vancouver native during his much-anticipated draft year. Chicago Blackhawks fans fawned over the idea of potentially landing the top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and thus the ability to select Bedard.

On May 8th, that became reality and the buzz surrounding Bedard grew even more — the craziness was just starting. Bedard was everywhere for the Blackhawks from July 2023 to June 2024, concluding with him winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

This summer has already been a stark contract to last year for Bedard.

“I didn’t do an interview for a couple of months, so that was unbelievable,” Bedard said following Friday’s training camp session. “The excitement was there last year, but I just feel more relaxed this year.”

Bedard’s rookie campaign last season saw him finish the year with 61 points in 68 NHL games played, missing nearly a full month after sustaining a broken jaw in early January. He still made an appearance at the NHL All-Star game while injured and was available to the media at every possible chance before and after the injury.

Bedard was on the stage in Las Vegas announcing the Blackhawks’ second-overall pick at the 2024 NHL Draft, welcoming Artyom Levshunov to the organization. Then, things began to quiet down for Bedard and the time away from the spotlight has given him time to reflect and enjoy life outside of the rink again.

“Last year, it was super cool and I don’t take any of it for granted, but it is a lot of stuff and once it’s done you don’t want to do it all again.”

Over the summer, Bedard said he had worked on putting himself in more game situations during training, along with the standard offseason work hockey players put in to improve their strength, skating, and speed. “The pace of the skates have been good,” Bedard said following the second day of training camp. “Everyone has looked good to begin and I’m feeling pretty good.”

Expectations for Bedard are through the roof as he enters into his second NHL season. Some believe with the improved roster around him, he could make statistical jumps similar to that of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby did in their second NHL seasons, scoring 100+ points. More “conservative” analysts believe his metrics could pan-out to him being a point-per-game player in his second year in Chicago.

Either outcome would be well-received by Blackhawks fans. Setting his own expectations is something Bedard is focused on. But telling anyone about them is not.

“I’d never tell you, but I have expectations in my head, for sure.”

While Bedard might not share his expectations for himself, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke on Friday about the growth he hopes to see in year two from the 2023 first pick. “Growing that 200-foot game. I’m sure from his standpoint he probably wants to up his offensive output as well,” Davidson said. “But I’m excited to see him with some new linemates and really taking that step that now he understands the league and being able to impact the game on both sides of the puck and also give us a few more memorable moments on the offensive side of things.”

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