How Connor Bedard looked in his first taste of NHL action

While preseason games aren't always worth our attention, generational talents don't face off against NHL talent for the first time too often.

Connor Bedard's preseason debut on Thursday gave a little bit of meaning to a matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues that would've been irrelevant to even the most die-hard fans otherwise.

Bedard showed off his impressive gifts in a two-assist performance that figures to be the first of many multi-point outings he authors at United Center. It was not a dominant tour-de-force, but the 18-year-old did plenty to show why he's so well-regarded — even if the outing was below his own expectations.

"I can play a lot better," he said after the game. "I didn't really think I personally played great."

While Bedard fell short of his own standards, he made enough plays to give a glimpse of what he could do in his rookie season. Less than five minutes into the game, he was able to put something on the highlight reel, even if it didn't result in a goal.

His most impactful play of the night was a saucer pass to Andreas Athanasiou that the forward buried to end the game.

"He reads plays really well," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said of the rookie. "He made an unbelievable pass on the winning goal."

There was more to Bedard's night than the two most noticeable plays, though. The winning goal, for instance, was set up by some dogged work in the defensive zone that shut down a Blues opportunity.

While Bedard doesn't figure to challenge for a Selke Trophy anytime soon — and spent much of his defensive-zone time in this game providing an outlet for teammates rather than waging puck battles — he showed himself to be a willing back-checker on multiple occasions.

Another aspect of his game that stood out was his ability to carry the puck.

There will be times when Bedard prioritizes finding space to line up shooting opportunities — like he did off this offensive-zone faceoff when he went towards a spot he could fire from right after winning the draw.

Bedard also looks like he'll play off the puck on the power play as the Blackhawks look to unlock his dangerous shot on one-timers. Unfortunately for the rookie, he got one shift with the man advantage in this one, and Chicago's power-play unit was too disjointed to produce an opportunity.

While finding space and finding areas to let it rip from will be a focus of Bedard's in the offensive zone, on the way in he'll do a lot of puck carrying.

He certainly did on Thursday. His coast-to-coast highlight at the top of this piece is the best example, but his ease moving through the neutral zone was apparent all night.

"He feels comfortable with that puck skating in traffic," Richardson observed. "He's going to have no problem playing with bigger guys in this league."

While Bedard stands 5-foot-10 and weighs in at 185 lbs, his relative lack of size didn't really show up in this one. He was rubbed off the puck in a zone entry in the third, but no one lined him up for a big hit, and he wasn't outmuscled in the faceoff dot — where he went 10-for-16.

It wasn't a perfect performance by any means.

Bedard would've liked to bury one of his five shots on goal, and there were times when his zone entries got too audacious, leading to stalled attacks. Thursday's game wasn't a coming out party the likes of which we've never seen.

That's a hell of a standard to set, though. There's no doubt Bedard played well in his first NHL preseason game. He factored in on both of Chicago's goals, and his squad absolutely dominated possession when he was on the ice in 5v5 situations (70.03 xGF%).

Subjectively speaking, he looked like the most dangerous player on his team. That statement would be more impressive if he had better talent around him, but it's fair to characterize Thursday as a success for Bedard — whether he's willing to or not.