Connor Bedard ditches Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand to select $73M Isles forward as dream linemate

By ARJUN B

Modified Oct 09, 2024 15:39 GMT

Rising NHL superstar Connor Bedard, on the Jackie Redmond Show, revealed his dream linemate.

While one might have expected Bedard to name established stars like Sidney Crosby or Brad Marchand, the 19-year-old instead went with New York Islanders forward Mat Barzal.

Barzal, who is on an eight-year, $73.2 million contract with the Islanders, was picked by Bedard due to their history together.

"There's a lot of guys obviously," Bedard said. "Sid's up there, Marchand would be cool, but maybe I'll go with Barzal just because he's someone that I skated with when I was like 12, 13 years old up until today.

"So I got to know him really well and looked up to him a lot. He's a bit of a mentor for me, so that'd be pretty cool."

The two first crossed paths when Bedard played summer hockey with NHL players and Barzal took the young player under his wing. Bedard credited Barzal for being an important mentor early in his career.

Barzal said he knew Bedard was going to be a great player when he saw him for the first time.

"He would have been 12, I think," Barzal said (as per The Hockey News). "Wearing a cage, and his skates looked a little too big. Then we came back the next summer, and he was beating NHL goalies with his shot. It was like, you know the kid's the real deal. ... So it's going to be fun to see him in the league next year."

The phenom scored 22 goals and added 39 assists in 68 games before having his season cut short by a broken jaw. Bedard was named the 2024 Calder Trophy winner.

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Blackhawks took Connor Bedard's stick and skate blades to keep him off ice

The Chicago Blackhawks have resorted to some creative measures to keep their star rookie Connor Bedard off the ice during rest periods.

After practices, Bedard has frequently stayed on the ice to continue shooting pucks and stickhandling on his own. Concerned about the 19-year-old burning himself out with the extra ice time, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has taken steps to limit Bedard's time on the ice.

"We tried last year," Richardson said. "We took his sticks, and then he flirted with his contract with Sherwood by taking someone else's stick. And then we took the steel out of his skates one day and hid it. We'll just have to have some fun with it."

While Connor Bedard may not think he's exerting much energy just practicing his skills alone, Richardson knows that all the extra minutes add up for a professional hockey player.

Richardson hopes the seasoned star understands the importance of proper rest and recovery, especially during busy stretches of the schedule with three games in four nights.