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NASHVILLE — What awaits Connor Bedard in Chicago really isn’t all that different from what he’s faced in Regina the last year or two. The glare of the spotlight. The horde of reporters. The unrelenting pressure of almost comical expectations. The fate of a franchise and the weight of history.
Only the spotlight will be so much brighter. The reporters will be so much more numerous. The pressure and the expectations will be so much higher. The franchise and history will be so much heavier.
“It can be a lot,” Jonathan Toews said.
Precious few people know what Bedard is walking into. Not since Connor McDavid in 2015 has a teenage hockey player known such hype. Not since Sidney Crosby in 2005 has a teenage hockey player shouldered so much. But Toews knows. Toews gets it. Yes, he was the No. 3 pick back in 2006, not No. 1. And yes, he went back to the University of North Dakota for a year rather than go straight to the NHL, as Bedard will.
But Toews knows what it feels like to be the center of attention. To be the Chicago wunderkind. To have a franchise hitch itself to your back and expect you to carry it to a decade-plus of glory, of forever memories, of financial windfalls.
So what’s Toews’ advice for Bedard, whom the Blackhawks will draft first overall in Nashville on Wednesday night?
Keep it simple.
“There are probably a lot of things, if I think about it, but the No. 1 thing I would say is to keep hockey No. 1,” Toews said. “Keep your life simple. Nowadays, especially, it’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy to get wrapped up in a lifestyle — because your lifestyle will change pretty quick. There are a lot of people and a lot of things trying to grab your attention. Just keep it really simple. Focus on hockey. If you do that, things will progress, your game will get better, and you’ll get where you need to go.”
Unsurprisingly, given the Mister Serious (later, Captain Serious) demeanor that marked Toews’ early 20s, that was never really an issue for Toews. Becoming rich at age 19 didn’t change him much. Sure, he enjoyed the royal treatment at Chicago Cut after a game like any other player, but Toews didn’t chase the perks and glitz and social accoutrements that come with instant fame and instant wealth. Certainly not early on.
Like any adult, Toews reflects on his career and sees things he wishes he had done differently. His rookie season isn’t one of them.
“When I look back, it’s one of the things I got right, that I wouldn’t change,” Toews said. “There are times later on where you learn how to balance your life a little bit and you can really enjoy the different aspects of living in Chicago and playing for the Blackhawks. But it was a huge lifestyle change for me at that age. I was lucky, my parents were great at keeping me humble and keeping me focused on things that mattered. And that was just focusing on hockey.”
Bedard doesn’t even turn 18 until July 17. He’s literally a kid. So many of the temptations that come with money and the big city won’t even be available to him. Oddly, his youth should help keep him centered and focused on the daunting task at hand — living up to the extraordinary hype that has justifiably accompanied him for years now.
As Toews puts it, the fun of fame and riches will be waiting. But for now, hockey is life. It has to be.
“You want to be a professional hockey player, then you can’t do it all,” Toews said. “You’ve got to be really good at one thing, and you’ve just got to learn how to weed things out, different aspects of (life), even when it’s really hard. When you keep things simple, it’s easy to enjoy that life and be grateful for what you have. Even though it definitely comes at a price.”
McDavid was the first so-called “generational” talent of the social-media age to hit the hockey world. The expectations he faced were utterly staggering. That he’s managed to not only live up to them but to far exceed them is a testament to his singular greatness.
But the outside noise never bothered McDavid. It was loud enough inside his own head.
“I put more pressure on myself than any of the expectations or whatever there was outside,” McDavid said. “It all came from within, and I’m sure (Bedard’s) the same way.”
McDavid got to skate with Bedard a bit at a BioSteel camp, and came away impressed. He said Bedard hasn’t sought out any words of wisdom, but if he did, McDavid’s advice is nothing profound: Keep doing what you’re doing. Just stop to smell the roses once in a while.
“He seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders,” McDavid said. “He seems to know what he’s doing. I’d just tell him to enjoy it. It goes by quick. Just enjoy all the moments as you go through it.”
Four years into his career, Jack Hughes is one of the very best players in the game, a breathtaking and dynamic No. 1 center for a fast-rising New Jersey Devils team. But when he broke into the league, he was a scrawny little kid who scored just seven goals in 61 games as a rookie. There were flashes, for sure, but he wasn’t yet a finished product. Few are at that age.
Bedard is about an inch shorter than Hughes, but he’s got the build of a 30-year-old man, thick and sturdy. That’ll help him adapt to the rigors of the NHL that so often wear down a rookie.
Hughes has no doubt Bedard will be an absolute star. Still, his advice is wise: Be patient.
“Everyone’s different,” Hughes said. “Everyone’s path is different. He’s a great player and I’m sure he’ll come in next year and do pretty well. He’s going to be the top kid and he’ll do great. But it’s a tough league. It’s the best league in the world, so it’s a challenge, for sure.”
Google “Alexis Lafrenière” and “generational” and you’ll find plenty of hits. After posting back-to-back monster seasons in the QMJHL, Lafrenière was going to be the next big thing. When the New York Rangers won the 2020 lottery after the Ernst & Young employee pulling the ping-pong balls dropped the Rangers’ ball, fans around the league cried out (only half in jest) that it was rigged in favor of the big-market team (sound familiar?). Lafrenière was a big deal.
Well, three years into his NHL career, Lafrenière has 47 goals and 44 assists. He’s a respectable third-line player, and the Rangers are mulling their options as he hits restricted free agency. He’s just 21. He still might become the player everyone thought he would be, assumed he would be, was sure he would be.
Or he might not.
Lafrenière’s advice? Insulate yourself. Especially if you’re not a 40-goal guy right out of the gate like Auston Matthews was, or a 100-point guy like Sidney Crosby was. There’s virtually no chance that Bedard is the next Alexandre Daigle or Nail Yakupov. He’s as sure a thing as sure things get. But it’s critical to remember that a modest start hardly foretells a mediocre future.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Lafrenière said. “Obviously, it’s (a) really good league. There are plenty of good players. You have to stay patient, keep working on your game, and try to enjoy being here. We’re really lucky to play in this league, so you just have to enjoy it and work on your game. You’re going to get better.”
Nico Hischier had a lot of fun as an NHL rookie. He had a very solid start to his career with 20 goals and 32 assists, he played in all 82 games, and his New Jersey Devils made the playoffs — no small feat for a team that had just been bad enough to draft first overall.
But his goal and point totals dropped each of the next three seasons. And the Devils missed the playoffs his next four seasons. One year later, and he’s the captain of one of the most exciting teams in the league, with his first playoff series victory under his belt.
Hischier’s advice? Think less about yourself, and more about your team.
That will be music to the ears of Bedard, who already works in careful hockey speak like other artists work in clay or watercolors. Even with the addition of another former No. 1 pick, Taylor Hall, Bedard is still walking into one of the worst lineups any top pick has walked into in the salary-cap era. But individual success means team success, and team success means individual success.
“Keep the focus on the team, and try to put away all that outside noise,” Hischier said. “You’ve just got to keep focusing and working hard on what the organization says. It’s a hard league. If you come in as an 18-year-old, you’re like a kid still, and you’re playing against men. So it’s definitely not easy. … Listen to the team, and not to all the outside noise. They want what’s best for you.”
Because it’s also what’s best for them.
Owen Power doesn’t feel like he has much advice for Bedard. Nothing Bedard can really use, anyway. The big Buffalo defenseman played in just eight NHL games in his draft year after going back to Michigan for his sophomore season. When he finally got to the NHL for good this past season, the hype train had long left the station. And he was almost 20, not barely 18. That gap year between his draft and the real start to his NHL career quelled much of the pressure that typically surrounds a top pick.
And Power flourished.
“It helped a lot,” Power said. “Just to get that extra year of experience under my belt, get older and get stronger. Something that also helped me a lot was going to a (Sabres) team with so many top-end players. It kind of allowed me to go in there undercover, to just go out and play.”
Nothing Bedard does next season will be undercover. There’ll be no flying under the radar, no quiet evenings at the rink. He’ll receive less grace and compassion than perhaps any rookie ever has. He’ll be on national television in two countries constantly. Every deke will be celebrated, every turnover will be scrutinized. No player in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks has faced what Bedard will face at 18 years old. Not even Toews. Not even close.
But seemingly everyone who’s ever met the kid says he’s built for this — mentally as much as physically. So Power’s advice?
Just be yourself. Because that’s pretty darn good.
“He’s in a different situation than I was, with all the hype around him,” Power said. “But he’s a good kid and he has a good head on his shoulders and he’s so focused on hockey. The outside noise doesn’t worry him. For him, it should be no problem. He’s going to do great.”
(Top photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
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