Connor Bedard has been likened to some of the best players in the NHL, including Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh.
Therefore, it was significant for Bedard when Crosby texted the 17-year-old center soon after the Chicago Blackhawks selected him first overall in the 2023 NHL Draft on Wednesday.
During the Blackhawks off-ice prospect development camp’s opening ceremony on Friday night, Bedard said, “I got a text from Sidney Crosby, so that was pretty cool. “My favorite player when I was younger, and undoubtedly among the best to ever do it. I was therefore rather excited.
When the Penguins selected Crosby first overall in the 2005 NHL Draft, he, like Bedard, was heralded as a “next generational talent” in the sport. The 35-year-old Pittsburgh center, who recorded 33 goals and 60 assists last year, is set to begin his 19th NHL season and is still going strong.
When he was a rookie at age 18 in 2005–2006, Crosby had an impressive 39 goals and 102 points. Bedard and Kyle Davidson, the general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks, have played down any expectations for point production per game in the upcoming year.
Bedard has modestly said that his goal is to join the Chicago team. The native of North Vancouver, British Columbia, must accomplish that goal and then some.
Bedard will thus play his first NHL game on October 10 in Pittsburgh against Crosby and the Penguins. Then, we go on to larger things.
“We’ve been working our whole lives, and now that we’re in Chicago, we obviously know the history of this organization and the expectation of winning,” Bedard told reporters at a press conference with a number of Chicago 2023 draftees. “We’re going to work as hard as we can to get better, play better, and hopefully win the Stanley Cup. That is the fundamental aim.