Connor Bedard Puts Some Narratives To Bed

If you spent any time on social media during the Chicago Blackhawks season, you saw garbage headlines from worthless clickbait sites or out-of-context clips of a frustrated Connor Bedard. These led to the ridiculous narrative that the young star wants out of Chicago. Bedard put a lot of lazy narratives to bed when meeting the media today.

Connor Bedard is Not Leaving Chicago

It started moments after the Blackhawks won the No. 1 overall pick two years ago. You heard the clueless ramblings that Bedard would “pull a Lindros” and not sign with the Blackhawks after they drafted him. For the last two seasons, the posts and articles about how we won’t re-sign after this entry-level contract expires showed up after every loss, each one more silly and uninformed than the last.

“Unless you’re in the room and around all of us, I’m a pretty mild-mannered guy, and if I looked a little sad on the bench or something, maybe people can take it out of context,” Bedard said. “I’ve said it so many times. I love being here, the city, and the people. Even before I got drafted, I was embraced as one of their own.

Bedard addressed some of these silly narratives because even if he tries to avoid them, it’s impossible to be completely blind to them.

“I don’t really see a lot of that unless someone shows me,” he admitted. “But I think people who know me know I love to be here and really trust the direction we’re going. If you get the first overall pick, you’re probably not winning the Cup the next two years. It’s an understanding of where you’re at. You’re going out there to win every game, but at the end, you know we’re in a process of growing and learning, and that’s an exciting time. When you lose, it makes winning a lot sweeter once you get there.”

The Blackhawks can sign Bedard to a contract extension as of July 1. As expected, he gave a new contract very little thought during the season. However, he made abundantly clear that he is not going anywhere.

“I’ve said it 100 times: I love it here,” he said. “I have a great relationship with Kyle (Davidson) and everyone. I don’t even know what to expect with that. You have the conversations and stuff, and see, but I’m not too worried about any of that. Like I said, great relationship, and I know I want to be here for a long time.”

Speed is the Offseason Focus

Another narrative that crept up as the season progressed was that Bedard was a “slow” player. While he’s never been a burner on the ice, he certainly isn’t slow. The addition of guys like Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore certainly made Bedard appear slower, but that could be said of nearly everyone on the team.

It is clear that Davidson wants this team to be known as fast and relentless. Bedard sees the speed around him and wants to catch up.

That’s the big thing for this summer. I mean, probably the biggest things are speed, acceleration, and stuff like that for me,” he said. “Just with the way I play, I don’t think I’m slow, but probably kind of average speed. I will never be MacKinnon, McDavid, or anyone like that. If I can gain another step, it puts guys on their heels a little more, and the way I think the game, I think that could be a huge plus for me and help me create more.”

Bedard also knows that focusing on speed can diminish his strength if he’s not careful. Finding the right balance of the two will be key to his offseason training.

“I think you can improve both,” he said. “You don’t want to lose all your strength. It’s just game speed, and then I’ll come here and say I need to work on my strength next summer. Just finding that balance and learning my body and how I can get the most out of myself.”

This is still a work in progress with Bedard, but we know he will put in the work. It’s interesting talking to so many different players today about their offseason and how it varies depending on where they are in their careers. The young guys like Bedard and Nazar speak in generalities like getting “faster” or “stronger.” They are still adjusting to the big picture of being an NHL player. Meanwhile, guys like Ryan Donato and Connor Murphy can spend their summers tweaking specific aspects of their game.