Final season, Connor Bedard was the NHL’s rookie of the 12 months. This season, he is likely one of the league’s most annoyed stars.
Bedard, 19, has three objectives and 12 assists in 20 video games for the Chicago Blackhawks, who’re tied for the worst factors share within the NHL (.375). Heading into Saturday’s matchup on the Philadelphia Flyers, Bedard has gone 11 straight video games with no purpose.
“I may title 100 issues [I could do better],” Bedard stated Friday. “I do not know, man. It has been irritating, for certain. I simply do not feel like I am actually doing something. So simply preserve chipping away at it, I suppose, and hopefully discover my sport once more.”
Whereas his level manufacturing hasn’t fallen off drastically from his 61 factors in 68 video games final season — ok to win the Calder Trophy — his goal-scoring tempo has been minimize in half. Bedard had 22 objectives final season.
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“It has been a tricky stretch,” he stated. “You simply really feel like you do not have it or no matter, and also you lose a little bit of confidence. And it simply sort of goes on.”
Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson lately moved Bedard to a line with forwards Jason Dickinson and Joey Anderson, because the younger heart was shifted to the wing. That paid dividends towards the Anaheim Geese on Tuesday, with Bedard aiding on two Dickinson objectives.
The three went scoreless in Chicago’s win over the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday, nevertheless. They had been dominated by heart Aleksander Barkov’s line, getting outshot 8-0 with a 16-2 drawback in makes an attempt, however did not give up a purpose to Florida’s prime line.
“We did not carry him right here to be a checker,” Richardson stated. “However simply the way in which our workforce has a scarcity of scoring, we’re hunkering down on the defensive aspect till we get a little bit extra confidence offensively again.”
Bedard’s tackle his new position: If nothing else is working, why not do this?
“I am not doing a lot offensively in any respect, so I’ve acquired to discover a totally different approach to be productive,” he stated. “That was clearly totally different for me, but it surely’s good to try this. It is good taking part in with these two guys. You study rather a lot in that finish. It is rather a lot much less work than at heart. It is nearly positioning and figuring out the place to be.”
Bedard hasn’t talked a couple of insecurity a lot since he was drafted first general by the Blackhawks in 2023. Richardson stated Bedard addressed the difficulty of confidence as a result of it is “working by way of our workforce quickly proper now. … While you see it as soon as, then that is sort of the phrase that is in your thoughts to make use of in an interview.”
No matter one calls it, Bedard hopes to get again on his sport because the 2024-25 NHL season reaches its quarter mark.
“Simply preserve entering into each sport,” he stated. “Making an attempt to be one of the best me.”
