CHICAGO — Connor Bedard‘s first NHL season may be over, but the 18-year-old Chicago Blackhawks center will continue playing after he confirmed he will join Canada’s roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship, set for May 10-26 in Czechia.
“That’s something I’m pretty excited about, to get the opportunity to play,” Bedard said Saturday. “A year and a bit ago, I was playing for my country every couple of months (as a junior player). It’s been a while since I got that chance. I’m looking forward to that.”
Bedard, who led the Blackhawks as well as all NHL rookies this season with 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games, is no stranger to international competition. He has represented Canada four times — twice in the IIHF under-18 World Championship and twice in the World Junior Championship — and helped lead his country to three titles.
He had 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in seven games when Canada won gold in the 2021 under-18 World Championship in Frisco, Texas, eight points (four goals, four assists) in seven games when Canada won the 2022 World Junior Championship in Edmonton and 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in seven games for another gold medal in the same tournament last season, when he was the leading scorer and most valuable player in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick.
“Me and [Blackhawks linemate Philipp Kurashev, who will play for Switzerland] were talking,” Bedard said. “Our main goal is to score on [teammate Petr] Mrazek [of Czechia] in the Championships. Stuff like that is always fun.”
Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson said he’s all for Bedard continuing to play this season after the Blackhawks (23-53-5) finished last in the Central Division and failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight season.
“We didn’t play meaningful games at the end of the year,” Davidson said. “[If] players can go and play some meaningful games, then I think that’s that’s a great opportunity, especially the opportunity to represent someone’s country. Is is a huge honor, a huge opportunity. And just a great experience. And so I would I wouldn’t want to take that away from someone … If they were leaving here maybe not feeling 100 percent, then maybe that’s a conversation of rest and recovery.
“But if they’re leaving here healthy and they want to go play, then I think it’s a great opportunity.”
Bedard, the No. 1 pick by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft, said he has not given serious thought to the possibility of winning the Calder Trophy, voted as NHL rookie of the year.
“It’s not something I focus on,” he said. “During the year, I was just playing hockey and trying to be the best I can be. That stuff takes care of itself. I’m not overly worried about it.”
Despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw sustained on a hit by New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith during a game Jan. 5, Bedard finished his first NHL season with 14 more points than Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber, who each tied for second among League rookies this season.
Davidson had plenty of praise for the way Bedard conducted himself this season.
“Yeah, I think it was incredible,” Davidson said. “I think the expectation, the weight that was put on his shoulders, just given his profile walking into the League, it’s really difficult to handle. I don’t think anyone can adequately quantify the degree of difficulty of what he had to deal with off the ice to then go on, perform on the ice. We worked with him to make it as seamless as possible. And, for the most part, I think we accomplished that.
“But having said that, he’s an 18-year-old player that had to go through more media attention than any player in recent memory, and probably more than any player entering the League ever, just given the social media age and the age that we’re in right now.
“And so I thought it was extremely impressive. And then on the ice, he certainly offensively delivered everything that you would want out of a first-year, 18-year-old player. And so I was really, really impressed.”
