Bedard skates against the New York Islanders on Tuesday on a forward trio with Jason Dickinson and Philipp Kurashev.
Connor Bedard almost always is the center of attention for the Chicago Blackhawks.
But arguably, the NHL's leading rooking scorer won't start as the center of the Blackhawks top line when Chicago meets the New York Islanders at Elmont, New York on Tuesday.
Coach Luke Richardson constantly jumbles forward trios. Bedard, who enters with 21 goals and 36 assists in 60 games, often has been on the ice and clicked with 24-year-old Philipp Kurashev.
Kurahsev is up to 16 goals and 33 assists in 67 assists in a breakout year. The Swiss-born winger with Russian roots has been motoring lately with five goals and 13 points in his last nine games. Kurashev also is "listed" at center, but doesn't often play there.
Enter Jason Dickinson
The new man in the middle — or at least the faceoff circle most of the time — will be Jason Dickinson.
Both Bedard and Dickinson, who has reached 20 goals for the first time in eight full NHL seasons, are centers.
Dickinson is one of two Blackhawks forwards with a plus (5) plus/minus rating (Joey Anderson, plus-10 is the other) on a team with a minus-95 goals differential. The 28-year-old Georgetown, Ontario also is Chicago's go-to guy in defensive situations and on critical faceoffs, using his athletic 6-foot-2 frame to win 50.4% of them.
The stockier Bedard, like many rookies, has lagged at 39% in the tricky, nuanced craft at the dot.
Either may take faceoffs or fill the center slot at different times, switching based on situations. Dickinson is a left-handed shot. Bedard dangles his Sherwood Rekker stick on his right side.
"I think they interchange" Richardson said. "I told them to work it out. Maybe for strong-side faceoffs, Connor can jump in there on the right." See video.
Switcheroo...
As far as defensive coverage goes, the Blackhawks' system is as easy as 1-2-3.
In theory.
The first forward back supports defensemen in down-low zone coverage. The second help mind the slot. The third stays higher on the strong side boards.
Offensively, well Bedard loves to cradle the puck. So does Dickinson, with more of a straight-line approach.
"A lot of times Connor has the puck, which we like our puck-carrying guy to be in the middle," Richardson said. "They're just three smart hockey players and we've kind of let them figure that out."
Bedard is noted for his sneaky shot and leads rookies with 190 shots on goal. He's attempted 179 more that have been blocked or missed the net,
Dickinson also has a quick, underrated shot, putting 114 on net and attempting 215. He can fire what Richardson called "unpredictable passes that get through" from the shifty, crafty Bedard.