Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard is seeking to hit his stride as he enters his third NHL season.
The 20-year-old star skilled a slight sophomore hunch in 2024-25, scoring 23 targets and 67 factors throughout a full 82-game season. He had practically equivalent totals in his Calder Trophy-winning rookie yr regardless of lacking 14 video games as a consequence of harm.
When confronted about it, Bedard was sincere about what he wanted to do to achieve the subsequent degree.
“It’s temporary, however I believe for me, an enormous half too is consistency,” Bedard instructed The Athletic. “I believe final yr once I was on and feeling good, I used to be a fairly dynamic participant, after which I’d have type of gaps within the season which weren’t nearly as good. … You possibly can’t have your nice be nice and your unhealthy be actually unhealthy, so it’s simply discovering consistency and determine what you might want to do to really feel good most nights.”
Bedard was fairly on-the-nose along with his prognosis of his 2024-25 season. He struggled to attain targets to begin the season, scoring simply 4 via the primary two months of the season. That included a tough November when he scored only one objective and eight factors in 12 video games.
Although Bedard was capable of flip it on in December, scoring 5 targets and 16 factors, his season continued to have peaks and valleys. He stayed sizzling via January till his play fell off for the next two months.
In February and March mixed, Bedard had 5 targets and 13 factors in 23 complete video games with a plus/minus of minus-15. And with the Blackhawks residing and dying by Bedard, they struggled mightily for a big portion of that stretch.
Discovering that consistency goes to be simpler stated than finished for Bedard when the staff round him has struggled — and the linemates he performs with have a tendency to alter on a night-to-night foundation — however the onus is on him to seek out it in his personal sport.
Bedard is aware of what he has to do, and he plans on doing the perfect he can at it because the 2025-26 season opens on Tuesday evening.