Bedard dazzles in preseason debut: ‘I could be a lot better’

Connor Bedard did anything but disappoint in his first taste of the preseason, but the gifted Chicago Blackhawks rookie believes there’s plenty of room for improvement.

“I think I could be a lot better,” he said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope. “I don’t think I personally played great.”

Bedard made several memorable plays in the Blackhawks’ 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

The No. 1 pick in June’s draft didn’t take too long to start skating circles around his opponents.

Connor Bedard wowing the crowd in just his second NHL preseason shift. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pueOByPIVF

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 29, 2023

Then, in the second period, Bedard helped facilitate Chicago’s first goal, drawing the primary assist on Philipp Kurashev‘s tally.

IT’S ONLY PRESEASON BUT WE SCORED pic.twitter.com/TZQFbBvNOH

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 29, 2023

He capped off the night by setting up Andreas Athanasiou‘s overtime winner with a slick saucer pass.

THE OT GOAL FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE pic.twitter.com/DTVtvyQjve

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 29, 2023

Bedard played 21:20 in the victory, trailing only Blues center Robert Thomas (21:25) among forwards for both teams.

The 18-year-old fired five shots on goal, tying Thomas, Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich, and Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser for the game high.

Bedard was named second star of the game for his efforts.

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