Bedard sees positives for Blackhawks despite difficult season

CHICAGO -- Connor Bedard remains encouraged about the future despite another difficult season for the Chicago Blackhawks.

"Yeah, big time. You're seeing guys come up and make a difference," Bedard, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, said Friday.

"I know what I'm trying to do right now is not be so focused on results and just know we're young, we're trying to get better and just have fun. It's a great group of guys and we have, what, three weeks left? So just have fun, enjoy it and do the best you can. Obviously you're trying to win every game, and you want to win, but we're going to try to play the best we can."

The Blackhawks (20-41-9) were eliminated from contention for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. They missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season and have qualified for the postseason once in the past eight seasons (2019-20).

Some of their younger players have done well in their opportunities this season. Center Frank Nazar, 21, who has developed some chemistry with Bedard on the top line, has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 41 games. Defensemen Wyatt Kaiser, 22, has been a steady presence in the lineup since being recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Feb. 28. Same with defenseman Ethan Del Mastro, 22, who has four points (two goals, two assists) in 19 games with Chicago this season.

Bedard also has been impressed with defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who was recalled from Rockford on March 9. The 19-year-old, selected by the Blackhawks with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, has two assists in six games.

"He comes up and he looks great," Bedard said. "You can see why he is projected to be what he is and that's exciting. He makes that pass and you can see his hockey IQ. You can definitely see the future of him being a No. 1 guy."

Bedard leads Chicago with 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists) in 70 games. The 19-year-old won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year last season when he led NHL rookies, and the Blackhawks, with 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games. There have been some ups and downs for him this season, so he's looking for consistency through this final stretch of games.

"Up to this point I feel I've had a couple little, like, 12-15 game stretches where if you look at points ... obviously points aren't everything, but as a guy who's supposed to produce, those stretches are what I need to get rid of," he said. "The rest of the year's been pretty good, I feel like. I have a lot of areas I can improve but that's exciting in a way, too, where you can be a lot better."

The Blackhawks also will try to improve. Topping their to-do list this offseason is interviewing coaching candidates. Anders Sorensen has been interim coach since Dec. 5, when the Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson.

What changes the Blackhawks make to their roster remain to be seen. Bedard will keep an eye on what transpires, but said, "In the end, that's not my job. I'm just going to be trying to improve as best I can when the summer comes."

Nevertheless, if general manager Kyle Davidson asks Bedard for his thoughts on things, Bedard is happy to give them.

"Yeah, we have a good relationship," he said. "It's cool. He's a younger GM (36) and we're a younger team. We have a lot of guys coming in basically the same time as him. He's really easy to talk to and I think we're all trying to grow together and take those next steps, and having that relationship is important."

The Blackhawks continue to try to get back to their glory days, when they won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. They've gotten some promising players through the draft and are seeing some of that potential on the ice. So what do the Blackhawks need to start taking bigger steps in their rebuild?

"There are a lot of things you can point to," Bedard said. "It's a hard league. I think it is on all of us as individuals in a way. If each guy gets a little better, then we'll be better as a team. That's a big step. But there are always little things you can do to win more games and we're trying to figure that out."