"I'll be paying to play": Connor Bedard confesses his unusual dilemma for homecoming game in Vancouver

Connor Bedard will be back home in Vancouver for the first time this season. The young star will have lot of family and friends coming to the game, so much so it's going to cost him a lot.Bedard said he'd had so many ticket requests that it would virtually exceed his game salary to pay for all of them.&quot;It's not crazy, but I'll be paying to play for a night.&quot;The Chicago Blackhawks will be taking on the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night. The Blackhawks and 6-9-1 and the Canucks are 8-3-3, so it's a matchup of two teams heading in opposite directions. Therefore, the focus will largely be on Bedard playing in front of local fans.Bedard was drafted first overall by the Blackhawks last year and is considered the best prospect of this generation. He quickly made his NHL debut but hasn't visited the stadium of the fans who once watched him play just yet.Bedard's linemate addresses second-year star's strugglesBedard came out recently and bluntly stated he's not playing very well of late. He hasn't had the impact on the ice he wanted to this season. His linemate Nick Foligno, who is on the ice with Bedard 27% of the time, spoke about this.Connor Bedard hasn't played as well as he wants (Imagn)He said via the Chicago Sun-Times:‘‘It’s partly on the player and partly on the coaches to get you to find a rhythm. As much as you want to see [Bedard] get with consistent [linemates], we’ve got to get on a roll as a team. Usually, that breeds more consistency and more chemistry with your linemates. For whatever reason, guys haven’t really panned out. [Kurashev] and him, they’ve tried it, but it stalls out. It’s a matter of just finding the right recipe.’’Bedard's coach, Luke Richardson, said that it's imperative for the second-year center to find consistency no matter who he is playing with. He did admit the Blackhawks have to look at the numbers to find the best people to pair with Bedard to get better results.