It’s difficult being a rising NHL star whom people expect the world of. You’re always under the microscope with your every on-ice move and your comments to the media hyper-analyzed, and you deal with issues beyond your control. When things don’t go right for your team, reporters and fans want to break down every angle of your development and pick apart the organization’s win/loss record and overall development.

And that’s where the Chicago Blackhawks' budding star Connor Bedard is today.

Indeed, on a Hawks team that currently is tied for last place in the league with a 7-12-1 record, Bedard has been shuffled around on different lines. And while he has posted a team-best 12 assists and 15 points in 20 games – not bad, by most people’s standards – Bedard isn’t on the goal-scoring pace that saw him generate 22 goals in 68 games last season. He hasn’t scored a goal since Oct. 26, and his current teammates, with all due respect, are far from the marquee names you’d expect to play with Bedard.

For instance: Bedard presently is sharing a line with with center Jason Dickinson and right winger Joey Anderson. Does that sound like a powerhouse combination? It doesn’t to us. Bedard has also played alongside veterans Teuvo Teravainen and Nick Foligno, as well as Ryan Donato and Philipp Kurashev, plus a short span with Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi. Basically, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has moved Berard throughout the forward roster looking for the right chemistry, and despite Bedard’s points total, there hasn’t been much damage done in terms of picking up wins. This is why Bedard isn’t feeling great about his game.

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“It’s been a tough stretch, and you just feel like you don't have it or whatever, and you lose a bit of confidence and it just kind of goes on,” Bedard told NHL.com Friday. “Obviously, it's been a little bit (of a stretch) for me. So, like I said, just kind of keep going in every game, trying to be the best me and hopefully things got to come.”

Chicago’s sub-par results are not solely on Bedard, of course. But top young players usually aren’t accustomed to playing on terrible teams – their junior hockey careers are almost always on top squads – and Bedard is surely frustrated by the lack of progress in Chicago. In a best-case scenario over the long haul, the Hawks’ woes are going to lead to another top draft pick this coming summer, and that will take much of the pressure off Bedard to handle the competitive load. But he’s going to have to grin and bear it the rest of this season, knowing that the Blackhawks aren’t going to be a Stanley Cup playoff team once again.

Moving around with different linemates creates a lack of stability that may be a factor in Bedard’s offensive numbers not being elite, but his pure talent is still there, and we expect him to eventually be the day-in, day-out dynamic force he’s been most of his life. In the macro picture, this tough stretch is a blip on the radar for Bedard, and he’ll eventually find the right linemates that he can thrive with and make better with his top-level instincts and grade-A skills.

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That said, for now, there aren’t great solutions for Bedard. That’s more of a comment on the Hawks’ lack of development than it is about Bedard’s career trajectory. Bedard is still the force that made Chicago select him first overall in 2023, and while this tough span is a test of his patience, Bedard will soon enough find his peak and once again be the needle-mover he’s always been.

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