EDMONTON | Connor Bedard has done nothing to make anyone doubt his status as the top prospect of the 2023 Draft at World Juniors.
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All eyes were on him at the start of the competition. Not only because he has been considered for several years as the best hope for the 2023 vintage of the NHL draft, but above all because several supporters of the Canadiens are already dreaming of seeing their team experience another season of misery to draft the young prodigy in Nashville, next June.
In general, Bedard lived up to his reputation. He scored four goals in the tournament, thanks to his shot that has absolutely nothing to envy to that of many players currently playing in the National Hockey League.
Statistically, the Vancouver native finished the tournament with eight points in seven games. By comparison, when they participated in the World Juniors at age 16, Sidney Crosby (five points in six games in 2004) and Connor McDavid (four points in seven games in 2014) had fewer points than Bedard.
HIGHS AND LOWS
His tournament was not perfect.
After starting the tournament on the first line with Mason McTavish, he lost five-on-five responsibilities as the tournament progressed. In the last match of the preliminary round, against Finland, he was sidelined for a good part of the last 40 minutes of play. Head coach Dave Cameron explained this decision by his desire to play the players who deserved it the most and that Bedard needed to be better in all three areas.
It was certainly one of the first times in his young career that Bedard received this kind of admonition from a coach. His offensive talent has always allowed him to be forgiven for a few defensive errors, but not in this tournament. The World Junior Championship is a short tournament, and Dave Cameron showed his colors from the first game, when he made the decision to drop Brennan Othmann from the roster, another player who has been criticized for a lack of rigor in the three areas.
EXPERIENCE
At times, Bedard felt frustrated. “Being on the same unit as him, it’s just to motivate him, noted Nathan Gaucher during the tournament, when he was paired with Bedard during the semi-final match against the Czech Republic. It’s going well for him, it’s sure that it’s a tournament for older players and we shouldn’t hit the nail on the head too much. »
Still, for a player considered a 16-year-old junior at this tournament (he turned 17 on July 17), Bedard demonstrated he possessed offensive skills that made him a in a separate class.
His throw, and especially the technique with which he draws, was unmatched in the competition. Despite everything, the World Juniors reminded one thing: he is not Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby. He is Connor Bedard. Will he have a career worthy of these two great stars? It is not impossible. He’s still young and still has a lot to work on. With hindsight, the messages sent to him by Dave Cameron will benefit him for the rest of his career. In the final, it was used for more than 25 min in the grand finale.
We can therefore only imagine how dominant he will be, in a few months, during the tournament presented in Halifax and Moncton.