When it comes to the Chicago Blackhawks this season, there appears to be only one story. Actually there may be many stories, but every single one of them has a connection to sensational rookie Connor Bedard.

The most important of those stories may be Bedard's ability to become a breakout star. He certainly has all the hype that that a young player could want, as he is the most dynamic rookie to enter the league since Connor McDavid made the jump to the NHL at the start of the 2015-16 season.

The team spent most of the summer and training camp attempting to take some of the pressure off of Bedard. This was done by acquiring veterans Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno in trades with the Boston Bruins and also by attempting to limit expectations for Bedard and the team.

The excitement of having a young superstar on the roster does not necessarily mean the Blackhawks will become a playoff team right away. They certainly have a much greater excitement level, but it may take time for Bedard to become a big-time scorer and for the Blackhawks to become winners.

Bedard's Opening Acts

The Chicago Blackhawks began the 2023-24 season on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins, and they will continue their opening road trip in Montreal against the Canadiens Saturday night.

The games against the Penguins and Bruins were both televised nationally, and much was made of the opening confrontation between Bedard and Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby. Bedard picked up the first point of his career and the Blackhawks were victorious in their opener.

A day later, Bedard scored the first goal of his career against the Bruins. The goal came in the first period as he fired a short wrist shot on Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark and he picked up his rebound, darted around the back of the net and beat Ullmark to the post with a wraparound shot.

That goal gave Chicago a 1-0 lead, and it turned out to be the Blackhawks' only goal in the game. The Bruins scored 3 times — 2 by superstar David Pastrnak — and won the game by a 3-1 margin. The loss did not take away from the excitement of Bedard scoring his first goal in the second game of his career.

He won rave reviews from observers, his teammates, his coaches as his quickness and aggression, and it became fairly clear that the hype about Bedard's talent level was real.

After the first two games nationally televised across the United States, Saturday night's game against the Canadiens will be featured on Hockey Night in Canada. It's quite clear that the hockey world wants to see the 18-year-old Bedard become a superstar as quickly as possible.

Bedard is not alone

While the young first-line center will attract most of the attention, he is not the only player on the Blackhawks that head coach Luke Richardson hopes will develop into an impact player and a breakout candidate.

Rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski played extremely well during training camp and he was good enough to win a spot on the team. Unlike Bedard, there were none of the expectations that came with the No. 1 draft choice. Nevertheless, he is in the regular blue line rotation, playing next to Connor Murphy.

Korchinski has size and strength at 6-1 and 185 pounds, and the Blackhawks coaches are working with him on positioning and skills in the defensive zone.

“It’s surreal being in the NHL, so you just want to stay as long as you can,” Korchinski said. “At the same time, I don’t think it’s something I can control. [I’m] just playing my game and putting in the work every day.”

Bedard has early impact on hockey viewership

The 5-10, 180-pound Bedard was a dynamic prospect from the time he was 13 years old and many expected him to show off his skills right away.

That has resulted in huge ratings for his opening game. The game was the highest-rated regular-season game ever seen on ESPN.

The network said that the game averaged a network-record 1.43 million total viewers and 676K in the target 18-49 demographic.

Ideally, Bedard will be able to make progress throughout the season and the Blackhawks will also show some improvement after several rough seasons.

While nearly all hockey fans are excited to see him play, the Blackhawks have to steward him on his journey and must remember that he is an 18-year-old youngster playing against talented and physically intimidating older players.

It is an exciting journey for Bedard, but it will not be an easy one.