Connor Bedard learning to be ‘more assertive’ against NHL stars he once idolized

In his NHL debut in March 2013, then-Lightning rookie Tyler Johnson went up against John Tavares and the Islanders. More than a decade later, he still recalls how intimidated he felt that night.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking when you idolize these guys and you think that they’re the best players in the world — which they are — but you’re also on the same ice as them and have to be able to play your game,” Johnson said.

As one of the Blackhawks’ veteran leaders this season, Johnson’s thoughts have frequently drifted back to that memory while watching Hawks superstar rookie Connor Bedard go through similar experiences — and do so as an 18-year-old, four years younger than he was as a rookie.

Every time Bedard hesitates upon encountering a new situation at the NHL level, Johnson understands why.

But intimidation doesn’t seem to be a factor in Bedard’s case. He has never lacked confidence; he genuinely doesn’t even seem capable of lacking it. He’s not arrogant either, but his extremely high standards for himself reflect a self-awareness of his abnormal talent. The rest of the Hawks have noticed that, too.

“He’s on a different level because I think all he does is hockey,” Johnson said. “I don’t think there’s anything else.

“He’s playing with a little bit of an ‘F you’ mentality, which I really like. You need that, especially being a smaller guy. Sometimes you’ve got to hit the other guy before he hits you, and he’s starting to play that way.”

In reality, Bedard’s hesitation instead seems to stem from pure unfamiliarity, which will be only a short-term problem.

Riding a bike isn’t inherently difficult, but it can be difficult to know how to ride it until one has done so a few times. The same phenomenon applies to Bedard, who possesses the talent necessary to succeed in any situation but needs to figure out how to translate that talent into success.

At the start of the season, he understandably didn’t know what he could and couldn’t get away with against professional competition. He didn’t know exactly how he stacked up against existing stars like Sidney Crosby and Nikita Kucherov, his equivalents of Tavares. He didn’t know how aggressive and risky he could afford to be around such stars.

Over the past six weeks, while recording 15 points in his first 16 games and receiving lots of advice from Hawks coach Luke Richardson, he has learned he stacks up quite well.

In terms of Micro Game Score, a holistic stat tracked by hockey statistician Corey Sznajder that incorporates shots, passes leading to shots, offensive-zone entries and defensive-zone exits, Bedard has been the league’s most impactful player this season.

“Obviously, you’ve got to respect everyone in the league — it’s guys you grew up watching,” Bedard said recently. “But now that’s guys I’m competing against, so I don’t want to go in there and not battle my hardest. That’s what I’m always going to do.

“Something I said to myself is [to] be more assertive and aggressive in that way. Of course I want the puck, and sometimes you’ve got to go get it. Even if I don’t get the puck, then maybe that guy has to make a quicker play and another [teammate of mine] can get the puck. That goes for all of us, being hard on the forecheck or hard on guys, and that’s definitely a part of my game.”

Bedard added Tuesday that he’s working on “never really shying away” from contact with opponents, having realized how much offense can be created by “getting a steal or even tying a battle and having another guy come in.”

But he’s still learning, and he’s not perfect yet. When evaluating his recent play, he declared he “sucked” Sunday against the Sabres — his third straight game without a goal, a span in which he tallied only four shots on goal (plus two assists).

And Richardson, after coaching the Hawks through some intense battle drills during practice Tuesday, said he would like to see Bedard become even more consistently engaged.

“He’s very strong and balanced so he usually comes out of [battles] with pucks,” Richardson said. “[My feedback is about] getting there quickly. In his whole game, he watches a little of the play and analyzes it — because he knows the game and sees it very well — instead of taking charge and taking a couple of steps on the puck.

“He’s not conserving his energy for anything. He’s just watching the game, and he knows he’s in a good position, but I would like to see him move his feet a little bit more. We’ve talked to him about it, and he knows. I think it’s just a young player getting new habits at this level.”