No matter how many Chicago Blackhawks’ prospects have made their NHL debuts this season, Connor Bedard has remained the central focus for the organization. The franchise’s rebuild has taken a fun turn this year despite their record mirroring last year’s squad. The team got much younger since the calendar flipped to 2025, which gives fans plenty of reason to be excited about the future.
Bedard has collected a ton of accolades in his second NHL season. The 19-year-old has scored 20 or more goals in each of his first two professional campaigns along with having north of 60 points per year. He has joined elite company in multiple ways and has a very important summer ahead of him.
Bedard not only has set himself up for success throughout the season, but he has done the same for his teammates as well. Saturday marked the end of the home slate for Chicago this season, and Bedard put himself even further into franchise history during the 5-4 loss.
Connor Bedard has the most assists by a Chicago Blackhawks’ history
Bedard tallied a goal and an assist on Saturday in his first multi-point game since March 23. He now has 21 goals and 42 helpers on the year entering the final two games this week, and his assist on Saturday was the 81st in his young career. This moved him into the top spot in franchise history for the most assists by a teenager.
The former first overall pick of the 2023 draft finished his shortened rookie season with 39 assists in 68 games to go with his 22 goals. Bedard has played in all 80 contests for Chicago this year and eclipsed his point total from a season ago with his performance on Saturday against the Jets.
Bedard has dealt with a flurry of line changes throughout the campaign by both bench bosses in an effort to find who plays best on his wings. The duo that has stuck as of late consists of veterans Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev. Both wingers are having career years and their pace of play has matched up with Bedard well as he continues to come into his own as a legit scorer in the NHL.
Connor Bedard’s playmaking has improved drastically this year
While he hasn’t been perfect, Bedard has looked much more confident with the puck on his stick as the season has progressed. He still needs to work on his puck control on a consistent basis, but his playmaking along with having a bit more of a physical style to his game has been very apparent. Even though he had two scoring slumps this season, Bedard still finding a way to have over 60 points in his position is good to see.
Bedard is entering the final year of his entry-level contract next season and the Blackhawks front office could look to talk about an extension for him already this offseason. An eight-year deal in the $10-$12 million range per season might be the expectation for Bedard when entering these negotiations. It will be up to Chicago’s management team to lock down their centerpiece for the future, and it will be hard to see them having an issue doing so.
Chicago Blackhawks 2022 first round pick is finishing the season strong
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