Connor Bedard Talks Blackhawks, 1st NHL Game in Vancouver and More in B/R Interview

The NHL game looks different for Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard at the start of his second season in the league.

The No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft may already be coming off a Calder Trophy-winning rookie campaign, but he told Bleacher Report he feels more comfortable with the pace of play heading into the 2024-25 season.

"I maybe haven't been producing at a crazy level, but I feel like I'm creating a lot of opportunities for myself and everyone, and I feel like the game's slowed down a little bit from last year," Bedard told Bleacher Report. "I think that's positive."

Although Bedard has been projected as a potential generational talent since he became the first player to be granted exceptional status for early entrance to the WHL at age 14, the 19-year-old still showed some growing pains adjusting to his first year in the NHL.

One of those adaptations was figuring out how not to overdo practice. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson told ESPN's Emily Kaplan last season that at one point he hid Bedard's sticks before an optional practice in an effort to encourage the rookie to rest.

Heading into Year 2, Bedard says he has adjusted to a practice schedule that allows him to retain enough energy for the high intensity of NHL play.

"Now I'm here a few years, you kind of have your routine and stuff down and you know what you got to do to feel good," Bedard said. "When you kind of know what it would take for you to be feeling like that, and everything, I think that's a huge bonus."

Other things about playing for the Blackhawks have changed since last season. The team let players like Taylor Raddysh and MacKenzie Entwistle walk in free agency, then added veteran players like Patrick Maroon and Tyler Bertuzzi this summer.

"All the new guys have been great, and we brought a lot in, and it's fun to build some new relationships," Bedard said.

One of those additions to the roster is veteran winger Teuvo Teräväinen, a member of the Blackhawks' 2015 Stanley Cup-winning team who spent the last eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes before signing in Chicago this summer.

Since clicking in the preseason, Bedard and Teräväinen have become regular linemates and one of the Blackhawks' most effective offensive duos. Through ten games the Hawks have outscored opponents 5-4 when this top line is on the ice, a positive sign for a team that is as a whole getting outscored at 5v5.

"I think a lot of our chemistry is talking about what we've seen out there," Bedard said about skating with Teräväinen. "He plays the game at such a high level, and I feel like for me, kind of best part of my game is how I think the game. So we just re-up each other... it's been fun to grow that chemistry."

After going 2-2-1 to start the 2024-25 season, the Blackhawks fell into a slump with four straight losses in the fourth week of October.

The team was outscored 17-9 over the span. Bedard was held without a goal despite putting six shots on net against his childhood team, the Vancouver Canucks. And despite Bedard finding the back of the net twice in a pair of back-to-back games the following weekend— one goal that gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead over the visiting Nashville Predators, and another that cut the host Dallas Stars' lead to 3-2— the Blackhawks lost both games.

On the ice, the Hawks looked like a different team from last season. The final scores were closer, and the losses felt more competitive. But on the scoresheet the Blackhawks headed into the 10-game benchmark with a 3-6-1 record, a lower mark than last season's 4-6-0 season-opening record.

"I think just sticking to what you know works," Bedard said about breaking out of the slump. "Obviously, we had a much slower start to our first few games than we would have liked to. I think the rest is just knowing what we do to be our best selves, and that goes on a personal level too. You've got to know what it takes for you to be playing your best. I always want to be getting better, having more of an impact on the game, and hopefully I can do that."

The Blackhawks got back in the win column on Monday with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

"We were on a little cold streak there... obviously, a happy plane after," Bedard said.

Navigating his second season in the NHL has involved more than Bedard adjusting to roster turnover. As lululemon's NHL ambassador, he has also served as the face of the brand's recent announcement of a multi-year partnership with Fanatics and the NHL.

The collaboration involves lululemon designing apparel for 11 teams including the Blackhawks this season, followed by a full 32-team lineup for the 2025-26 campaign, according to the brand. The products will be available through Fanatics, Lids stores and some NHL team shops.

Bedard, who signed an apparel deal with lululemon last June and inked a memorabilia deal with Fanatics earlier this month, went through product testing with the Vancouver-headquartered brand this summer ahead of the collaboration with the league, according to lululemon. He said his involvement in the campaign made him feel "a little bit" like a trendsetter.

"I know a lot of the guys on our team are always wearing the stuff," Bedard said.

His role as the league's brand ambassador involved posing for shots in a modeling campaign that also featured other NHL stars like the Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares and the Vegas Golden Knights' Mark Stone.

"It's definitely out of my comfort zone," Bedard laughed about modeling. "It was cool. It's good to do something that you're not used to, and you're not that comfortable with."

Bedard finished his rookie season with 22 goals and 61 points despite being limited by injury to 68 games. The Blackhawks meanwhile finished the campaign a 23-53-6 mark and 52 points, good for 31st in the league.

The second-year forward could be on pace to beat his rookie production totals after recording three goals and six assists through ten games. The Blackhawks will be challenged similarly challenged to take a step forward from last year's record, starting with some wins this week during a West Coast road trip to visit the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.

One matchup coming up over the next month has particular meaning for Bedard, a Vancouver local who was sidelined with a fractured jaw when the Blackhawks visited his hometown last season. The Hawks' Nov. 16 matchup against the Canucks will mark Bedard's first trip to Rogers Arena as an NHL player.

"I'm really excited just to play in front of friends and family," Bedard said. "I grew up going to games, watching the team I grew up cheering for. Excited to go home, and see everyone, and yeah, I'm looking forward to that one."

Bedard and the Blackhawks return to action on Thursday night with a road game against the 2-7-2 Sharks at 10:30 p.m. ET.