CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard made an immediate impact in his season debut for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bedard picked up an assist in the first period of Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 21-year-old center was in coach Jeff Blashill's lineup for the first time since he had surgery on his left shoulder on July 8.
“It’s only been six games, but when you miss camp and you miss preseason it feels like a lot longer,” Bedard said before
the matchup with Pittsburgh. “Just to be back with the guys and get to do what I love, it’s exciting. Looking forward to getting back out there, for sure.”
Chicago dropped five of its first six games without Bedard, who had a team-high 45 assists and 75 points last season. The Blackhawks had been outscored 26-12.
“We have to understand we’re adding a good piece to the puzzle, but we can’t expect him to put the puzzle together by himself,” Blashill said.
Bedard played on the team's top line with Patrick Kane and rookie Roman Kantserov. Nick Lardis was assigned to Rockford of the AHL to make room for Bedard on the roster.
Chicago and Pittsburgh were tied at 1 when Bedard made a nice touch pass to Kantserov, who beat Sergei Murashov on the goaltender's stick side for a power-play goal with 2:10 left in the first.
Bedard had a prime scoring opportunity with about nine minutes remaining, but he was turned away by Murashov.
Bedard agreed to a $75 million, five-year contract in July. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft became the second-youngest captain in the history of the Original Six franchise on Sept. 15.
He got hurt while skating with a group of NHL players in western Canada this summer. After the operation, the team said he would be sidelined for approximately four months.
“You never really know how things are going to go,” Bedard said. “I put a lot of time and effort into the rehab process to try and maybe come back a little earlier than I guess originally expected, but at the end of the day it’s just when they felt comfortable. So it was safe for me to get back out there. But definitely happy that I didn’t miss quite as many.”
Bedard made his NHL debut against Crosby and the Penguins in 2023. He was heralded as the new face of the Blackhawks, and he won the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.
He missed 12 games last season after he hurt his right shoulder on Dec. 12. He wasn't allowed to take faceoffs after he returned, but he has no restrictions this year.
“It’s nice. I mean, you want to just play your full game,” Bedard said. “So just get back out there and you want to play as free as you can. It’s nice that we had two practices for me to get into and feel some bumps and get into battles and stuff where it’s not as controlled.”
While Bedard returned, Frank Nazar missed the matchup with the Penguins. The 22-year-old forward finished his two-game suspension for an illegal check on New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat on Thursday night.
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