With just a month left in the season, the Chicago Blackhawks are fighting to stay out of dead last place in the NHL. The lone positive for the organization being in this spot is how strong the draft class is this summer. While one more premier prospect in this length rebuild will be huge, this should be the last season where the Blackhawks are in the league’s basement.
Chicago finished last season second-to-last in the NHL in points which is the same spot that they are in right now. After this past summer, the hope was that Chicago wouldn’t be near the bottom three places in the overall league standings. Unfortunately for general manager Kyle Davidson, his veteran free agent acquisitions were not enough to overcome the inexperience that the rest of the group brought to the table.
Despite the struggles this season, interim head coach Anders Sorensen made it known that there is no reason to fret on the team’s youngest and brightest star.
Chicago Blackhawks’ bench boss isn’t worried about Connor Bedard
Connor Bedard has played the same amount of games in his second season so far than he did in his entire rookie campaign. In 68 games this year, he has 18 goals and 35 assists for a total of 53 points. Bedard finished last season with 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) and he is still on-pace to break his total from a season ago.
Blackhawks interim head coach Anders Sorensen told the media that there is no reason to have any worry about Bedard’s game and he will be just fine in the long run.
“I remember Sidney Crosby went through that a lot,” Sorensen said. “I remember Peter Forsberg came into the league mild-mannered off the ice, but on the ice, it happens right? They want to win. They want to be successful.”
Guys like Crosby and Forsberg are good company to be in for Bedard and it’s worth noting that two different scoring droughts have hampered his numbers this year. The forward went 13 games without a goal in a stretch that spanned from late-October until the night before Thanksgiving. He also just had a seven-game pointless streak that was snapped last week.
Through the tough year, Bedard has found ways to produce when possible. It has not been pretty, but sophomore slumps do exist in every sport and it appears he has suffered a bit from that this season. He still leads the Blackhawks in points and has the opportunity to add to his total with just under a month remaining.
Next season is vital for Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks
After another major draft selection is made in the first round for Chicago this summer, things need to be turned up a notch more than ever. There will be more top prospects from the team’s pool that will be up at the NHL level at some point next season, so that will certainly help Bedard and others in their scoring efforts.
Bedard’s entry level deal is nearly expiring too, which is another reason for the front office in having this sense of urgency to open the organizations’ competitive window. They need to do everything they can to convince the young phenom to stick around the Windy City and to see this rebuild pan out the way many believe it will.
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