The start of the 2025-26 season represents significant growth for the Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard. The Blackhawks earned a 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames Friday night, and the team's young star scored four points in the game. Bedard had a goal and three assists, and it marked the first time he had scored that many points in an NHL game.
The Blackhawks have a 7-5-3 record through their first 15 games, and they are clearly a competitive team at this point in the season. The Blackhawks have struggled badly in recent seasons, and they have not been a playoff team since the Covid-impacted season of 2019-20. The current season is not even 25 percent completed, so there is clearly much to prove, but the Blackhawks are moving in the right direction.
So is Bedard, who was questioned a year ago because his progress was very slow in Year 2 of his career. That is clearly not the case this year, as he has scored 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points and a plus-10 rating.
Bedard has scored points in seven consecutive games, and he acknowledged the help he is getting from his teammates. “I’m playing with great players that are making the game easy on me,” Bedard said, per NHL.com. “Sometimes the points come, sometimes they don’t. For me, it’s just about the process and getting chances, making plays and that’s when [the points] come.”
Bedard leads with aggressiveness and getting help from Blackhawks teammates
Bedard appeared to be an offensive phenom when the Blackhawks selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. He is demonstrating his offensive hunger this season.
Bedard is getting help from teammates Tyler Bertuzzi, Andre Burakovsky and Frank Nazar. Bertuzzi and Burakovsky are tied for second on the Blackhawks in scoring with 12 points each. Bertuzzi scored 2 goals in the win over the Flames and has scored 5 goals in his last 2 games. Nazar is a speedy center who has shown he can create scoring opportunities and set up his teammates.
