To say that it’s been an impressive start to the season for Connor Bedard would be an understatement. We heard all summer about how he planned to play looser and faster, and it’s shown so far—he’s picked up nine goals and 16 assists in 16 games, and his 25 points put him in a tie for second in the entire NHL (he was briefly first before Nathan MacKinnon’s whopping nine points in two games over the weekend). Bedard has been even more impressive in the past week, notching seven points in his last two games and extending his points streak to eight games.
On Monday, those efforts paid off. The NHL named the Blackhawks’ superstar the Second Star of the Week for the week of November 3-9. In that time frame, he tied MacKinnon with 10 points, leading Chicago to three consecutive wins. On Friday, he became the 11th-youngest player in NHL history to accumulate 150 career points at 20 years and 113 days. For what it’s worth, the second overall pick in Bedard’s 2023 class, Leo Carlsson, earned the Third Star with five goals and four assists of his own.
There’s no question that Bedard has been leading his teams to more wins than anyone expected, and he’s extremely valuable to Chicago. But his stellar performance has also raised the question: Could we see Bedard in the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Last week, I wrote about Bedard’s chances of making Team Canada, noting that ESPN’s Ryan Clark listed him as his top “name to watch.” But if he can keep up this ridiculous scoring pace, it seems far-fetched that the team wouldn’t bring him along in February. On Monday, Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun provided an update on what they’ve heard about Canada’s roster in the Olympics, with Bedard still on the outside looking in. They also listed fellow youngster Macklin Celebrini as a player who has improved his stock the most this season. That may be true, but Bedard is also outscoring him at the moment (only by one point, but still).
On the other hand, Johnston and LeBrun made an interesting comment: “Management is bracing for a ‘grown-up’s game’ in Milan.” That may be the case, as international play can often be even more physical. If that’s true, Bedard’s impact may be more nullified than that of Celebrini. While he’s gotten faster and vastly improved his game, he can’t do much about his size. Celebrini is a few inches taller, and others like Mark Scheifele and Nick Suzuki might be even better off.
While those decisions have yet to be made, Bedard is certainly doing everything he can. Even if he isn’t selected, the Blackhawks will certainly take his production. He’s helped them shock the league so far, and should continue to do so provided he stays healthy.
