The Chicago Blackhawks are visiting the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. This homecoming for Connor Bedard could lead to a breakout game.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in an offensive funk. They’ve had trouble scoring more than one goal during any regulation game. That’s not going to get it done when they’re consistently playing against some of the best teams in the league.

Part of their offensive funk is the slump that Connor Bedard is currently in. He started off the 2024-25 season on fire but has since cooled off. On the year, he has 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 17 games played. They’re not horrible numbers but they’re also not up to his standards.

A reason for the lower-than-usual numbers for Bedard is the fact that he hasn’t scored much. He’s a gifted goal scorer but only has three on the year and none since October 26th against the Dallas Stars. His shooting percentage is sure to go up and the Hawks would like it to be sooner rather than later.

People forget that Bedard is only 19 years old. Despite the hype of a generational talent, he still has some growing and learning to do. What Connor McDavid did early on in his career is the exception, not the rule. Most number-one picks take some time, look at the careers of stars like Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier.

Saturday night is a chance for Bedard to get out of this slump. Don’t be surprised if he uses his British Columbia homecoming as an opportunity to break out again. 

He grew up cheering for the Vancouver Canucks and now he’ll get to play them in his hometown for the first time this season. With plenty of friends and family around, it is a great time to get going. 

We've seen stars around the league go through slumps before. That is especially true for the extremely young players who have a lot of hype and only a little experience. All they need is one game to break out of it and a return home for Bedard may be what it takes. 

Chicago and Vancouver already played at the United Center on October 22nd. The Canucks won that battle 6-3 and Bedard went pointless. We will see if things change on the road. 

Because of Vancouver's depth, they are not a team that the Hawks can hang with by only scoring one goal. If they want to win, the puck is going to have to find the back of the net a few times. It's a difficult task but we've seen Chicago play up to their opponent at times.

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