The 20-year-old forward is rapidly ascending into a small circle of the world\u2019s best players, cementing himself as not just a future superstar but a current one. He\u2019s looking and sounding the part now, too, having found his voice and realized he\u2019s free to be himself<\/a> on this stage.<\/p>\n Bedard\u2019s two-point performance in the Hawks\u2019 win Wednesday<\/a> against his hometown Canucks moved him into a tie for ninth in the NHL in scoring with 18 points in 14 games. He\u2019s riding a six-game point streak, having racked up 11 of them (including his first career hat trick) during that span.<\/p>\n Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson called<\/a> these \u201cthe best games he\u2019s played in the NHL,\u201d echoing the thoughts of everyone else watching. Bedard is taking over one shift after another, making his presence felt constantly.<\/p>\n \u201cConnor has been consistently … committed to winning hockey,\u201d coach Jeff Blashill said Wednesday. \u201cHe\u2019s competed extraordinarily hard. He\u2019s done all the winning things. He hasn\u2019t been perfect, but man, he\u2019s done a lot of good winning hockey habits.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been rewarded offensively because of it, and we\u2019ve been rewarded as a team because of it. [I\u2019m] really impressed with the approach he\u2019s taken all season long.\u201d<\/p>\n Bedard\u2019s notable stats go on and on. Since Oct. 17, he\u2019s tied for second in the league with 40 shots on goal, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon. He added another five shots Wednesday (on 13 attempts).<\/p>\n Looking at five-on-five play, since the Hawks\u2019 power play has been iffy, Bedard is tied for fifth with 11 points this season, two back of the league lead.<\/p>\n He\u2019s definitely better at faceoffs, diminishing that weakness. He has won a healthy 51.9% of his draws over the last 12 games since struggling on the opening trip.<\/p>\n He\u2019s definitely faster, proving his offseason work on his skating paid off. He has already recorded five speed bursts faster than 22 mph, a threshold he never reached last season. He has 51 bursts faster than 20 mph, so he\u2019s going to blow past his total of 70 last season. He ranks third among NHL forwards with 42.4 cumulative miles skated.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also taking advantage of that newfound speed, altering his mental calculations of who he can outrace on the rush and which loose pucks he can reach first. An example is his assist to Andre Burakovsky on Monday, when he chipped the puck ahead through the neutral zone and still beat Kraken defensemen Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson to it.<\/p>\n And Bedard is definitely more well-rounded, giving full effort defensively and\/or away from the puck and demonstrating improved skills in those regards. Blashill deserves credit for talking to him frequently all summer long about the importance of that.<\/p>\n He\u2019s hustling on the backcheck, hounding puck-carriers, getting crafty in board battles and simply outworking \u2014 in addition to out-talenting \u2014 most opponents.<\/p>\n Plus-minus is a flawed stat, but the contrast between his rating this season (plus-seven) and the past two seasons (minus-80) is eye-opening. His deeper analytics (like expected-goals ratio) remain oddly mediocre, but it sounds like the Hawks\u2019 internal analytics are more flattering.<\/p>\n The one rival Bedard isn\u2019t gaining ground on is Macklin Celebrini, who has also taken a Bigfoot-sized step this season and finds himself tied with Connor McDavid for the league scoring lead with 21 points.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no rule preventing both Bedard and Celebrini from becoming superstars, though \u2014 and it appears likely both will, in fact. Neither the Hawks nor Sharks would complain about an arms race between them elevating both into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Spencer Knight made 43 saves and Bertuzzi buried three third-period goals Wednesday as the Hawks beat the Canucks 5-2.<\/p>\n [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone] read<\/p>\n![\"Blackhawks](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/4fc2aeb\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3398x2265+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2F45%2Fdcf77bea438693032e2181f52866%2Fblackhawks-canucks-hockey.jpg\")
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![\"Wyatt](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/85a7de7\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4091x2695+0+0\/resize\/840x553!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fcd%2Fc7%2F0d98a6f0435d88353fbff26c1f86%2Fkaiser-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Connor](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/b5fdf68\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5331x3554+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F23%2F9b%2F3ba2a93340ccbceb20483a9a3758%2Fmurphy-1.jpg\")
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