The Chicago Blackhawks didn't have a great ending to the year, but Connor Bedard showed them that he is going to lead them to the promised land.
The Chicago Blackhawks finished in 31st place, but they had a great start to the season. The promising year fell apart in early December when Connor Bedard went down with an injury. He missed some time, and the Blackhawks floundered after that.
Despite missing a portion of the season, Bedard finished with 30 goals and 45 assists for 75 points in 69 games. That is a pace of 89 points and 35 goals over an 82-game schedule. He hit somewhat of a wall in the final ten games, which kept his numbers from being even more prolific.
Part of his development will be finding ways to be healthy for the entire season and not hitting that wall towards the end. The latter is less likely to happen if the team is good and competing for the postseason. Bedard must be one of the catalysts in that quest.
Despite having his first 30-goal and point-per-game season in the NHL, Bedard is far from satisfied. He had a great year, but he doesn't see it that way.
"There's ups and downs," Bedard said. "I don't think I was good enough. I think there is a lot of room for me to grow. I haven't scored in 10, and we kind of struggled in the last bit, so maybe [I'm] a little more negative in the moment. Once [I] break things down, there were positives for myself and the team. [I] want to get better."
Last summer, Bedard skipped going to the World Championships in order to stay home and work on his skating and skills with the puck. It was noticeable right away that he put the work in, and the results speak for themselves.
If he doesn't hurt his shoulder on a freak play in St. Louis, he probably has an even more productive season. At the time of his injury, he was a top-five NHL scorer.
Bedard believes that there is room for him to improve, which is a good thing. No elite players are ever satiated by their current results. They always want better. The organization has a responsibility to keep providing him with the necessary resources to continue the upward trend.
"I thought Connor had an excellent year, to be honest with you," said head coach Jeff Blashill. "If you look at when he got hurt, he was one of the very best players in the league. My biggest thing with Connor isn't about points. It's about what his mindset was. His mindset is 100% on playing winning hockey and building this thing into a winning team more than anything else. Once I realized that, I was really pleased with his approach on a daily basis."
Between Bedard's reputation coming into his NHL career as a "hockey-obsessed" player, the work he put in last summer, and his praise from the coach, it is clear that he will continue to work towards greater heights.
"Has he been perfect? No," Blashill said. "Is he learning like every elite scorer that comes into the league, and how to do things and play that type of winning hockey every shift? Yes. He's committed to it. As long as his mindset is in that place, which it is, he'll continue to skyrocket as a player".
Bedard is already a top-20 center in the National Hockey League, and he isn't even 21 years old yet. Before long, he will reach a level of play that has him in that next tier. He may never be satisfied until they win the Stanley Cup, but they have a long way to go. The work is being put in for him to be the type of player who can lead that kind of team.
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