Connor Bedard’s introduction to the NHL has been a crash course in facing some of the best players and franchises in the league’s history.
His first shift came against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The next three contests were against the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bedard Show rolled into Denver for the final stop on a five-game road trip Thursday night to begin his much-hyped professional career.
“He looks awesome,” Avs center Nathan MacKinnon, a fellow No. 1 overall pick, said prior to Thursday night’s game.
“I caught a couple of his games. He looks really good. He’s very dynamic. I don’t need to tell you guys how good he is. I know he works really hard from being around him a little bit. I definitely respect his game and it’s going to be tough tonight to contain him.”
Bedard had been touted as the next hockey phenom for multiple years before the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2023 draft lottery. He draws comparisons to Crosby, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews — the three players who generated the most pre-draft hype before entering the NHL this century.
He had one goal and three points in his first four games, but his impact has gone far beyond that. He was fifth in the league with 20 shots on goal entering Thursday night, logging at least four in every game he’s played.
“He’s an elite talent, right?” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “If you look at him at this point in the season, he’s generating as much offense as any other player in the league. Their team has been doing a nice job creating offense.
“They can get up and go. Not just (Bedard), they’ve got some other young guys in the lineup that have energized them. They’ve brought him in some veteran guys to help them that have been playing solid. It’s been a good team so far.”
MacKinnon and Bedard have spent a few days together in each of the past two summers at a camp sponsored by Biosteel. They have at least one thing in common, beyond being world-class hockey players and the honor of being selected first in their respective drafts — they were both huge Crosby fans growing up.
“I didn’t have a tenth of what (Bedard’s) got going on,” MacKinnon said. “He’s a lot better than me at 18, that’s for sure. He’s handled it really well. He’s very mature. He looks great.
“I think the hype obviously is similar. I was only nine or 10 when Sid came into the league but I remember there being a lot of excitement. It’s been the same with Connor. They’ve both handled it really well. He looks great, and he just wants to play hockey at the end of the day.”
Bedard’s team was off to a surprising 2-2 start prior to Thursday, given the competition Chicago has faced and low preseason expectations. The Blackhawks have won in Pittsburgh and in Toronto, two teams expected to be in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The game Thursday night was Bedard’s first test against one of the standard-bearing teams in the West. He’ll line up against MacKinnon three more times later this season as well.
“(MacKinnon) seems like a really good guy. I don’t know him crazy well, but he’s been really nice to me,” Bedard said. “Of course you’d love to skate like him. He’s one of the few people that can move like that. Just the way he thinks and handles the puck at such a high speed is really impressive. He’s really fun to watch.”
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