Bedard's ready. So is the Blackhawks' lineup for tonight's season opener against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. See story with videos.
Connor Bedard says he doesn't nap in the afternoon before games, something many NHL players still do. But the Blackhawks rookie center said he slept "like a baby" in Pittsburgh on the eve of his long-anticipated NHL debut.
The 18-year-old Bedard's parents and sister will be at PPG Paints Arena when he takes the ice on Tuesday night. See video below.
Bedard, the NHL's top draft pick of 2023, will skate on a line with left wing Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato on the right side.
"He has his whole career ahead of him," coach Luke Richardson said. "He doesn't have to crush the world in one night."
Bedard said he didn't closely check the stats on the debuts of other highly touted rookies, but was aware Toronto's Auston Matthews scored four goals in his first game in Oct. 12, 2016. See the video below.
The 31-year-old Hall, acquired from Boston two days before Chicago selected Bedard in the draft, will make his Blackhawks debut two days after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child. Donato, signed as a free agent from Seattle, also will skate in his first regular-season game with Chicago.
Here's the rundown on other forwards
- Line 2. Tyler Johnson-Lukas Reichel-Taylor Raddysh
- Line 3 Nick Foligno-Jason Dickinson- Corey Perry.
- Line 4 Boris Katchouk- Cole Guttman-Andreas Athanasiou. Athanasiou was sick last week.
- Extras forwards on the roster: MacKenzie Entwistle, Reese Johnson.
Defense parings
- Alex Vlasic-Seth Jones
- Kevin Korchinski-Connor Murphy
- Jarred Tinordi-Wyatt Kaiser
- Extra: Nikita Zaitsev
Goal
Petr Mrazek will start. Arvid Söderblom is the backup and slated to start Wednesday in Boston.