Connor Bedard
C #98 Chicago Blackhawks Trade value: 10/10

Connor Bedard

Born Jul 17, 2005
Birthplace North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Height 5'10"
Weight 190 lbs
Shoots R
Draft 2023 Round 1, Pick 1 - CHI

Contract

AAV $0.95M
Cap Hit $0.95M
Term 2023 – 2026
Clauses No clause (ELC)
Status ELC

Scouting Report

Skating8/10
Shooting10/10
Hockey IQ10/10
Physicality6/10
Defense5/10

✓ Strengths

Shot Release — NHL-Ready the Day He Arrived His release is the reason Chicago picked him first overall. Bedard's wrist shot off his back leg gets off the blade in under 0.35 seconds — faster than almost any NHL forward with at least 150 shots in 2025-26. His career shooting percentage sits at 13.9% across 606 shots through three NHL seasons, and it has climbed every year (11.0% rookie, 12.8% year two, 13.5% in 2025-26). The mechanics are clean enough that goalies cannot read the puck coming off his stick even when they know the shot is coming. Hockey IQ — Processing Speed Faster Than His Feet Bedard is the rare elite player whose brain outpaces his legs. He sees the second pass before the first pass completes. His 2025-26 even-strength primary-assist rate per 60 minutes ranked in the top 15 among NHL centers despite his linemates shooting 7.8% collectively — meaning he created chances at a top-tier rate for forwards who could not finish. Scouts pulled the Crosby comparison for a reason; he processes situations instead of outrunning them. Small-Area Skill — Best in Traffic Where most elite players need open ice to operate, Bedard thrives when the ice is crowded. His low center of gravity (5'10", 190 lbs with a wide base) makes him almost impossible to knock off the puck once he's below the dots. He draws defenders like a magnet and then releases pucks through double coverage at a rate Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score Value Added model ranked among the top seven forwards league-wide in 2025-26. Edge Work — The Gymnast Sister's Gift Bedard's skating is often described as average top-end, which misses the entire point. His edge work, acceleration in the first three strides, and pivot-turns in the offensive zone are elite. That gymnastics influence from sister Madisen is not anecdotal — he uses his edges the way a figure skater uses them, balancing on inside edges while moving laterally at speeds taller skaters cannot match. Ask any D-man who has defended him one-on-one: the problem is never catching him; it is that he changes direction before they can redirect their hips. Clutch Factor — Third-Period Assassin Bedard scored 14 of his 30 goals in 2025-26 in the third period or overtime, the highest third-period goal concentration of any player under 22 in the NHL. He has hit four game-tying goals in the final five minutes across his three-year career. On a team that rarely led games, he became the closer who gave Chicago a chance in one-goal spots even when the underlying play was a 35-shot disaster. That is a skill you cannot coach.

✗ Weaknesses

Defensive Zone Positioning Bedard's defensive awareness remains his clearest weakness and has not shown the year-over-year improvement scouts hoped to see. His 5v5 on-ice goals-against per 60 (2.87 in 2025-26) ranks in the bottom third among NHL centers, and the underlying tracking data shows he tends to coast back into the defensive zone rather than hound the puck carrier. He is a net-negative defender on the penalty kill, which is why Luke Richardson has not used him shorthanded despite his stick-check ability. Faceoff Percentage Through three NHL seasons Bedard is a 46.7% career faceoff man. For a top-line center who takes 18-22 draws per game, that percentage costs possession on roughly 3-4 extra starts per game compared to a 52% center. His weight (190 lbs at 5'10") makes him leverageable against bigger centers, and his hand technique has improved only marginally since his rookie season. This is the single skill that most limits his playoff ceiling if Chicago ever returns to postseason hockey. Shot Selection Under Pressure When Bedard gets squeezed by physical play — particularly in the final two minutes of tight games where his production soars but his efficiency drops — he forces shots from bad angles instead of cycling back out. His high-danger shooting percentage in the final five minutes of one-goal games was 18.2% in 2025-26, which sounds good until you realize his non-high-danger shooting percentage in those same situations was 4.1%. Translation: when he's good, he's elite. When he's forcing, he's launching pucks into shin pads. That gap will close with age, but it is a real current limitation.

Playing Style

Generational shooter and playmaker who processes the game a full second ahead of his feet. A Sidney Crosby-style possession center rather than a McDavid-style speedster — small-area skill, edge work, and elite release under duress are his weapons. The kind of player defenders never stop, only survive.

Trade Value Analysis

Connor Bedard is the definition of untradeable. He is 20 years old on a $950K entry-level deal with an RFA year that will convert to an eight-year, $12.5M-$15M extension this summer. A trade package would start at two first-round picks, a top-10 prospect, and a proven top-six forward — and the Blackhawks would hang up. There is literally no scenario where Chicago entertains calls; Kyle Davidson built this entire rebuild around Bedard's timeline, and the 2026 #2 overall pick becomes his running mate, not his replacement. The only way Bedard moves is via an offer sheet that Chicago refuses to match, which would require a team to front-load $46 million in signing bonuses across the first two years. Possible? Theoretically. Realistic? Zero percent. My rating: 10/10 untradeable asset with generational upside still ahead of him.

Career & Biography

Connor Bedard's Early Life and Junior Career: From North Vancouver to Regina Pats Legend

Connor Jack Bedard was born July 17, 2005 in North Vancouver, British Columbia — a hockey city that produces pros every year, but never one like him. His father Tom drove six to eight hours a day for years as a tree feller in the B.C. interior. His mother Melanie earned a business and marketing degree while raising two kids. His older sister Madisen, a trained gymnast, taught him balance and discipline that scouts would later credit for his elite edge work. I'd argue the Bedards are the most underrated support system in modern NHL draft history — nobody talks about how much athletic DNA and work ethic came from that gymnast sister.

By age 14, Bedard was so clearly ahead of his age group that Hockey Canada granted him Exceptional Player Status in March 2020 — the first WHL player ever to receive it. The Regina Pats grabbed him first overall in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. What followed was historic: 12 goals in 15 games as a 15-year-old, then 100 points in 62 games the next year, then a 143-point explosion in 57 games during his draft season (71 goals, 72 assists) — a pace not seen in major junior since Sidney Crosby. He added the World Junior MVP in December 2022, scoring 9 goals in 7 games, and was the consensus #1 overall pick before his 18th birthday. Every pre-draft Connor Bedard scouting report from TSN, ESPN, and Elite Prospects graded him a 10/10 projection on shot, vision, and hockey sense.

The eerie historical footnote most fans miss: Connor's great-great uncle James Bedard played 22 NHL games for the Chicago Blackhawks between 1949 and 1951. When Chicago won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery and picked him first overall on June 28, 2023, a family circle closed that had been open for 72 years.

Connor Bedard's NHL Career: Three Seasons on a Rebuilding Team

His NHL debut on October 10, 2023 in Pittsburgh was the most-watched regular-season NHL game in ESPN history. He didn't score. He did assist on Ryan Donato's goal, log 21:29 of ice time (most of any forward on either side), and leave with five shots. The next night in Chicago, 90 seconds into a home opener against Boston, he scored — becoming the third-youngest Blackhawk ever to notch his first NHL goal at 18 years, 86 days old. That two-game sample told you everything: the ice-tilting ice time, the shot volume, the willingness to shoot from his off-wing before defenders close. What it didn't tell you was how punishing the next three years would be for a kid on a last-place team.

His rookie season finished 22-39-61 in 68 games — leading all rookies in goals and points despite missing 14 games with a fractured jaw from a Brendan Smith hit on January 5, 2024. He came back wearing a full cage exactly six weeks later and immediately produced a three-point stretch. That cage became a small badge of honor around Chicago; a generational kid getting his face rearranged on a hit almost nobody flagged and returning without drama. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in June 2024, beating out Brock Faber in a finish tight enough that fans still argue about it.

Year two (2024-25) was the "sophomore stall" year almost every #1 pick endures. His counting stats moved only marginally — 23 goals, 44 assists, 67 points in 82 games — but the 70 penalty minutes hinted at frustration with the losing that Chicago kept pouring on him. Year three is where the leap happened. In 69 games during 2025-26, Bedard posted 30 goals, 45 assists, 75 points — his first 30-goal season, first above-point-per-game pace (1.09), and his first campaign with a clear signature: late-game clutch shots from his off-wing that redefined the Blackhawks' last-5-minute offense. My read: Year 3 is the year he stopped being a prospect and started being the center Chicago rebuilds around. The 2026 Connor Bedard scouting report now reads as an elite-tier NHL center with two more development years before his physical prime.

Connor Bedard's 2025-26 Season and Contract Extension Outlook

Chicago missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season, finishing with the second-worst record and the #2 lottery odds for the 2026 NHL Draft. The Blackhawks are now 10 years deep into a rebuild that has produced exactly zero playoff appearances since the 2016-17 first-round sweep. Bedard's 75 points led the team by 26 points — the largest intra-team gap between a leading scorer and the second-place scorer on any NHL team this season. What stands out to me is that he put up those numbers with a supporting cast that ranked 30th in expected goals share and 31st in even-strength scoring.

The contract extension is the entire 2026 offseason headline. Bedard's three-year, $2.85 million entry-level deal ($950,000 AAV) expires June 30, 2026, making him an RFA. Agent Pat Brisson confirmed negotiations start in May. Frank Seravalli has publicly floated a range of $12.5 million to $15 million AAV on an eight-year extension. For context, that range puts Bedard in the Auston Matthews / Leon Draisaitl tier before he's played a single playoff game — and the Blackhawks, based on everything CEO Danny Wirtz has said publicly, will pay it without flinching. Connect this to the broader 2026 UFA market crunch and you get why Chicago would rather lock him up now than risk a 2027 offer sheet. Compare the structure to how the Islanders structured Cole Eiserman's ELC around a similar rebuild timeline — same philosophy, different city.

Connor Bedard Off the Ice: Family, Idols, and the Crosby Comparison

Ask Bedard who he modeled his game after and the answer is always the same: Sidney Crosby. That's not marketing — scouts who've watched both players describe Bedard as a Crosby-style processor rather than a McDavid-style skater. He sees the play a second earlier; McDavid gets there a second faster. The lineage fits: Crosby inspired the kid who now carries a generational hope similar to the one Crosby carried into Pittsburgh 20 years ago. Follow that thread further in the Crosby return framework, then look at how Ovechkin's 1,000-goal chase reset the generational scoring benchmark that Bedard will eventually hunt.

Bedard is publicly single (he dismissed Emma Loken TikTok rumors in November 2023) and almost aggressively private for someone whose every shift gets livestreamed. His sister Madisen — the gymnast who lived in Sweden with him during his 2021 U18 tournament prep to keep his conditioning routine running — is his closest advisor outside his agent. By all accounts, the Bedards remain the quietest superstar family in the league. Boring, in the league's current context, is a competitive advantage.

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is Connor Bedard?

Connor Bedard was born July 17, 2005 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, making him 20 years old. He is the youngest player to ever lead the Chicago Blackhawks in points, a record he extended in 2025-26 with his first 30-goal, 75-point NHL season. His age relative to his production curve puts him on a Sidney Crosby or Steven Stamkos career trajectory.

What is Connor Bedard's contract with the Blackhawks?

Bedard is on the final year of a three-year entry-level contract paying $950,000 AAV with $2.85 million in total compensation. The deal expires June 30, 2026, making him a restricted free agent. Extension negotiations begin in May 2026. Industry insiders including Frank Seravalli have publicly projected an eight-year extension in the $12.5 million to $15 million AAV range, which would rank among the NHL's five largest contracts.

How many career goals does Connor Bedard have?

Through three NHL seasons Bedard has scored 75 career goals in 219 regular-season games. His year-by-year totals: 22 goals as a rookie in 2023-24, 23 in 2024-25, and a breakout 30 in 69 games during 2025-26. He has yet to appear in an NHL playoff game because the Blackhawks have missed the postseason all three of his professional seasons.

Has Connor Bedard made the Stanley Cup playoffs?

No. Chicago has missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, including every year of Bedard's NHL career. The Blackhawks secured the second-worst record and #2 lottery odds in the 2026 NHL Draft. Bedard's zero-games playoff status is the statistical oddity of his career so far; his Calder Trophy and three straight franchise-leading scoring seasons came entirely outside postseason hockey.

Who is Connor Bedard's girlfriend?

Bedard is publicly single. He directly dismissed speculation about a relationship with Emma Loken in November 2023, telling reporters the TikTok rumors were baseless. His closest confidante outside his agent is his older sister Madisen, a former gymnast who lived with him in Sweden during his 2021 U18 preparation and still advises him on training. By every public account he keeps his personal life aggressively private.

Latest Bedard Coverage

Get NHL trade rumors in your inbox

One email per week. Zero spam. Verified rumors only.