Connor Bedard, the projected no. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, is in his third season with Regina of the Western Hockey League. The 17-year-old center, No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American skaters presented by BioSteel, was granted exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old. Each Wednesday, NHL.com will have an update on Bedard leading up to the NHL Draft, which will be held in Nashville on June 28-29.
The play of Bedard this season has conjured up flashbacks and images of many of the NHL’s best players, past and present.
Add Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky to that list.
“I don’t say this lightly,” TSN director of scouting and NHL analyst Craig Button said. “I’ve watched the World Junior Championship for a long time. The last time a player performed at the level he performed, at his age, was in 1978 and his name was Wayne Gretzky. He was the best player in the tournament. The best player in this year’s tournament was No. 16 for Canada and it wasn’t even close.”
Bedard (5-foot-10, 185 pounds), a right-shot center, led all players at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) and was named the tournament’s top forward and most valuable player. helping Canada win gold.
Gretzky had 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in six games to help Canada win bronze at the 1978 WJC.
“The same things people said about Gretzky, ‘Oh, he’s small, he’s not big. He doesn’t skate that well,’ and he’s the best player that’s ever played the game,” Button said. “Bedard has a lot of those qualities. Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) said it best after a game one night when he was asked about Bedard. He said, ‘All the pressure is on him, and he still does it.’ Big time players love those big moments.”
Bedard set a record for most points by a Canadian player at the World Juniors and his 14 assists set a single-tournament Canadian record, two more than Jason Allison had at the 1995 WJC. He also had the most points in a World Juniors by a 17-year-old, breaking the mark of 18 set by Czechoslovakia forward Jaromir Jagr in 1990.
“His game management at World Juniors was actually excellent,” Sportsnet scouting analyst Jason Bukala told the “NHL Draft Class” podcast. “His average time on ice, game after game, was around 57 seconds per shift for the tournament. We all know he rolled over on that first power play unit, and toward the end of the tournament that unit was on the ice for almost the whole two minutes. But his 5-on-5 play ranged from 37-46 seconds, which tells me that he’s in tune with what his body’s telling him to do because it’s a track meet in that tournament at times, especially against teams like US
“So not only was he outstanding offensively, but there were also these other little, small details that brought a lot of positive elements to his game.”
Bedard hasn’t missed a beat since joining Regina following his record-setting performance at the World Juniors.
He has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in three games since his return from the World Juniors, including a WHL career-high six points (four goals, two assists) in a 6-2 win against Calgary on Jan. 8. He has 77 points (36 goals, 41 assists) during a 30-game point streak after not getting a point in Regina’s season opener Sept. 23. It’s the longest in the WHL since Brett Leason (Anaheim Ducks) of Prince Albert had a 30-game streak in 2018-19.
Here’s a look at his season:
Connor Bedard scorecard
(Number in parenthesis is WHL rank)
Games played: 31
Goals-Assists-Points: 36 (1st) – 41 (1st) – 77 (1st)
Points per game: 2.48 (1st)
Game-winning goals: 7 (tied for 1st)
Power-play points: 30 (1st)
Shorthanded goals: 4 (tied for 3rd)
Shots: 204 (1st)
Plus/Minus rating: +23
Penalty minutes: 38
Face-off winning percentage: 51.2 (331-for-646)
Upcoming games: Jan. 20: at Swift Current; Jan. 21: Swift Current; Jan. 25: CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Vancouver
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