Sophomore setbacks: Should Chicago speed up its rebuild for Bedard?

IN THE SECOND month of his second NHL season, Connor Bedard's sophomore slump hit hard. After matching his massive pre-draft hype by winning the Calder Trophy last spring as the NHL's top rookie with 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games, Bedard's production flatlined in November.

"I could name 100 things [I could do better]," Bedard said as he endured a 12-game goalless drought. "I don't know, man. It has been frustrating, for sure."

The teenager's expected goals percentage was up from a season prior. His opponents were limited to fewer shot attempts when he was on the ice. But the results didn't follow, especially in the faceoff circle, where Bedard was routinely getting defeated. The coaches even temporarily moved Bedard to the wing, hoping that could be a jump start.

TV cameras relentlessly followed Bedard during every shift, then captured every bench door he slammed and every anguished expression that followed -- often in dramatic slow motion.

"It was probably the first time he's ever had anything negative written about him," Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. "It was always, 'How good is this kid?' Now things weren't coming as easy. There's a lot of internal pressure on himself, too. He really wants to be the greatest. And when he's not impacting the game, he's like, 'What the hell?' Even though it might not be him, it's the game or the circumstance. That burden can be heavy."

The drought fell over the Blackhawks' trip to Vancouver, the first time Bedard could play an NHL game in his hometown. Because there was an NHLPA-mandated off day before the game against the Canucks, Bedard took an Uber to his parents' house as soon as the team landed. He slept in his childhood bed, then spent the day with close friends and family. Staying on brand, he even whipped a few pucks in their backyard shooting range.

Many around Bedard hoped it would be the reset he needed. Not quite. Bedard was held off the scoresheet as the Canucks beat the Blackhawks 4-1 -- Chicago's 11th loss in 18 games. The cast of players auditioning as Bedard's linemates appeared to be a never-ending carousel. Chicago kept letting games slip away late. The results cost coach Luke Richardson his job earlier this month.

From the outside, it was a nightmare situation for Bedard -- who was anointed as a franchise savior well before he hit NHL ice. People wanted to compare Bedard to other top draft picks -- such as this past year's No. 1, Macklin Celebrini, or the other Connor, McDavid -- then wondered if he wasn't hitting his marks.

"I told him, 'As much as everyone wants to build you up, there are many people who want to see you fail,'" Foligno said. "It's sad, but that's the world we live in. What matters is that everyone in this room wants you to do well."

Those closest to Bedard insist they have never heard him complain about linemates or coaches -- not before he got to the NHL, and certainly not now. Instead, during difficult times such as this fall, Bedard looks at himself in the mirror and thinks he might be letting everyone around him down. He is fueled by a deep desire to win, and believes if he stays disciplined to his routine, things will start to break his way.

OVER THE PAST month, Bedard seems to have rediscovered some swagger. Since breaking his drought, he has seven goals and 17 points in his last 16 games. The new interim coach, Anders Sorensen, is committed to finding solutions to help Bedard, including landing on somewhat consistent linemates inTaylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi.

"Honestly right now, I feel not bad," Bedard said Sunday. "I'm playing decently. I'm always trying to get better but my game's getting to a good spot and so is the team. We've been playing more aggressively, that's probably the biggest thing. ... And it's been good working with Anders. He is to the point. He tells us what he wants and he's passionate. He loves to win, and obviously so do I."

The Blackhawks are in a rebuild, but they've lost a lot in the last two seasons. They ride a four-game losing streak into the Winter Classic, and the Blackhawks are dead last in the NHL standings. That opens them up to critique. But one thing the organization feels adamant about: the noise around Bedard's sophomore season has been too loud and too skewed.

"It's the funniest narrative ever, like there's something wrong with this kid," Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. "He's 19 years old, he's just under a point-per-game player, and somehow he's broken? Inevitably, we want to draw every conclusion possible then we want to put it into context historically. Then there's the answer, right? Nobody wants to wait to see how things play out."

Davidson knows it's hard to preach patience. It's easy to ask if the Blackhawks are doing a disservice to a generational talent such as Bedard by not expediting their rebuild. It's the existential question: Could placing a highly driven superstar in a losing culture for too long do too much damage?

Then there's the issue of visibility, as the Blackhawks' new RSN partner, Chicago Sports Network, has yet to work out a deal with Chicago's biggest cable provider, Comcast. The Blackhawks believe Bedard will excite a new generation of Chicago fans, who were spoiled by three Stanley Cups from 2010 to 2015. Now, many haven't been able to watch Bedard consistently, as negotiations with CHSN drag on.

But as Davidson sees it, patience is the only path forward. Ownership granted his front office the luxury of conducting a rebuild "the right way" -- a years-long process, spanning several drafts -- to create a sustainable contender. After finishing last season with the NHL's second-worst record, the Blackhawks signed several veterans to patch this season's roster as the club waits for its top prospects to develop.

"The timeline's going to be what the players dictate and you have to be patient," Davidson said. "You always want the immediate payoff and I understand that, but we also have to be realistic and not put players in situations that they're not ready for. This is the first wave. But my goodness, we're pretty excited about some of the guys that are in amateur hockey and in college and junior and in Europe."

Recent first-rounders Frank Nazar and Kevin Korchinski earned December call-ups after tearing up minor hockey. The initial plan was for Nazar to stay in the AHL until the spring, but he forced a promotion with 11 goals and 24 points in his first 21 games in Rockford.

Over the next year, any combination of Artyom Levshunov (No. 2 pick in 2024), Oliver Moore (No. 19 in 2023), Nick Lardis (third round, 2023), Sam Rinzel (No. 25 in 2022) and Ryan Greene (second round, 2022) should follow. Ethan Del Mastro (fourth round, 2021) and Landon Slaggert (third round, 2020) are projected to make the NHL roster as role players. Perhaps most intriguing is 20-year-old Roman Kantserov (second round, 2023), who is thriving in Russia's KHL.

Further down the pipeline, the Blackhawks are excited about their other 2024 first-rounder, 18-year-old Sacha Boisvert. They also have two elite goalie prospects in 20-year-old Adam Gajan and 22-year-old Drew Commesso.

If all goes according to plan, this group will be surrounding Bedard when the Blackhawks are ready to win again. They just have to get through the uncomfortable stage first.

"You guys came to the rink for 20 years, won Stanley Cups and beat the hell out of everybody, and you just assume that's the way it should go every year," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said in November regarding the Blackhawks' run of success in the 2010s. "But you've got good young players. Got a superstar. It's just a matter of time."

THE CHALLENGE FOR Bedard and the Blackhawks this season is not to not let things spiral. Nazar, who is just 20, explains it as such: not letting their record dictate the way they play, and showing up consistently every night. For a young player such as Nazar, it's important to establish that culture. It's easier said than done.

Foligno, who is playing in his 18th NHL season, put it bluntly: "What this season's taught me is how hard it is to break from losing habits."

"When you lose, things creep into your game and into your organization that you don't want to have," Foligno said. "And it's hard to break out, even when you bring in different personnel, it's still a little lingering effect that you have to work through. This year, we've all expected to take a bigger step than we probably have, but I don't want to call it disappointment. There's still 50 games left, but we're not where we want to be right now. And I think that's the encouraging part too, that we can get there."

Sorensen had the unenviable task of coming in mid-season, in a league that has so little practice time. But players have noted his intentionality in how he runs drills, communicates, and shows video clips. Sorensen, who coached both in his native Sweden and for the Chicago Mission AAA before joining the Blackhawks organization, also has experience with highly skilled players; he has coached Maple Leafs star William Nylander on and off since he was 5-years-old, and considers Nylander's father, Michael, one of his closest friends. Sorensen also coached Boston star David Pastrnak in Sweden. When Sorensen got the Blackhawks job, Pastrnak texted his former teammates Hall and Foligno that their new coach was the real deal. That helped establish credibility.

"What I've learned is that there is a team structure, certain things that are non-negotiable," Sorensen said. "But with a guy like Connor, sometimes he knows more than you do as coaches. So let's not try to cramp him. There's so many attributes he has as a special player, so we ask him to trust his instincts, especially offensively."

Sorensen's initial focus was helping Bedard's teammates help him, and that's by getting Bedard the puck while he's in motion. Sorensen doesn't believe it's ideal for Bedard to cycle through so many linemates. At the same time, the new coach is finding ways to give Bedard even more looks -- putting him on different lines within games, especially in the offensive zone.

"For me, it's simple. He's our best player, we want him on the ice, right?" Sorensen said. "So let's try to get him in different situations, get him away from matchups and whatnot. And he's responded really well to that."

In the meantime, they've sometimes kept Bedard away from the faceoff circle (having wings take that duty). About once a week, Yanic Perreault -- one of the NHL's greatest faceoff takers during his 859-game career, who now works with the Blackhawks as a development coach -- comes to practice. Perrault, who has a similar stature to Bedard, is teaching the young center how to leverage his body, as well as a few stick tricks that can help him win against bigger centers.

Bedard is a notorious rink rat. Last season, Blackhawks coaches sometimes hid Bedard's sticks or took the steel out of his blades to keep him from staying at the rink too long.

"Now that he's been through the NHL grind, he has learned there's only so much energy and you don't want to tap into that reservoir too heavily," Davidson said. "So I think there's a little bit of an understanding. Having said that, he still loves it, still loves putting in the work. So he's still around a lot."

Bedard remains polite and accessible. He doesn't enjoy media obligations -- he'd rather be working on his game -- but understands their function, and dutifully says yes to most of the requests the Blackhawks receive. Over the summer, he wasn't initially thrilled about the pitch from Chicago Magazine to do a photo shoot at the Chicago Art Institute, recreating the iconic scene from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." After all, the movie came out 19 years before Bedard was born. But then it was explained why it was a big deal. And another selling point: The museum was offering to close off a wing, which they never do -- only for the Obamas.

"People tend to forget he's one of the youngest players in the league, and what he's doing still at his age is impressive," Foligno said. "People are going to compare him to all the greats and maybe that's fair or unfair, but he's going to be his own player. He's already said that he's not trying to be the next Sidney Crosby, the next Connor McDavid. He's going to be Connor Bedard. And whether that takes him next year to really hit his stride or five years, it's going to be fun to watch what he can become."br/]