How Connor Bedard became hockey’s next young superstar
Hockey’s most scrutinized teenager seeks the quiet life — for now.
Connor Bedard, the most hyped NHL prospect since that Connor, was finishing up his third season in junior hockey when I visited him in March. His team, the Regina Pats, is located in the broad plains of Saskatchewan, where the average winter temperature hovers around 12 degrees Fahrenheit. Against this unforgiving backdrop, the 17-year-old Vancouver native spends most of his time at the rink — which is where he and his teammates also take high school classes — or at home with his mother, Melanie, who temporarily relocated and rented an apartment to ensure her son retained some sort of normalcy.
For fun, Bedard and his buddies frequent the hockey shooting range, an indoor facility where they shoot pucks for a few hours. Sometimes they’ll visit the mall, where Bedard said they recently swung by the jewelry store for chains “just because. But I promise you it wasn’t anything too crazy.”
Bedard tries to stay out of public when he can, and as he gave me a tour in his off-roader SUV, bumping some top-40 music, it became apparent why. When he stopped at a red light, a car pulled up with four adults who recognized Bedard instantly. The driver honked and waved enthusiastically as the three passengers frantically fiddled with their phones to take photos. Bedard, clearly experienced with this exact scenario, politely smiled back.
“There’s a bit of buzz, and for me, it’s kind of crazy to see some of the things and people I’ve been compared to,” Bedard said. “It’s a lot different getting recognized out and about. It’s something I’m getting used to. It’s supercool feeling the support. But you know … I’m still a kid.”
He’s understating the buzz.
A winter Pats road trip drew sellouts at every arena, including the 17,000-seat Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames. Cliff Mander, a Vancouver-based marketing executive, told the Global News that he estimated Bedard brought in $1.5 million to the Western Hockey League this season.
Just imagine when he actually goes pro.
This is the reality into which Bedard is starting to settle — even if the public perception doesn’t quite match how he feels.
“Going out and meeting kids, they’re excited and screaming about meeting you, you can kind of make their day or their week,” Bedard said. “But for me, when I go home and look in the mirror, I don’t really see a famous person. I just see the same guy I’ve always been.”
AS THE PRESUMPTIVE No. 1 pick of the 2023 NHL draft, Bedard will learn his professional fate Monday night, when the NHL holds its draft lottery (8 ET, ESPN). Teams across the league have been angling for better odds for nearly two years in hopes of landing Bedard’s generational talent.
Bedard, a center, is listed at 5-foot-10, which might be generous, but nothing about his game feels small. He is as deceptive as he is unpredictable, with a hockey IQ and vision for the game that can allow him to completely tilt the ice every time he jumps over the boards. But his most elite attribute is his shot.
“It’s remarkable to see,” said Oilers star Connor McDavid, who skated with Bedard a few times over the summer. “He shoots it so hard and with such a quick release.”
Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon was even more blunt: “His release is one of the best in the world now … at 17.”
The first time Bedard read about himself in the media was at age 12, when he did an interview with The Hockey News. “I thought it was pretty cool,” Bedard said. “All my friends were showing me and whatever. But yeah, it’s pretty young.”
At 14, he became the seventh player ever to earn “exceptional” status, which allowed him to compete at the highest level of Canadian Junior Hockey as an underage player. Wayne Gretzky called to congratulate him.
“I think it was him,” Bedard said. “I hope it wasn’t someone, you know, pulling a prank on me.”
By 16, Bedard was the youngest player in league history to score 50 goals. And if there was any doubt Bedard was atop what NHL evaluators have deemed an extremely deep first-round draft class, he quashed it with a banger of a 2023 world juniors tournament. Bedard led Canada to a gold medal while scoring 23 points in seven games, including a highlight-reel goal in overtime to beat Slovakia in the quarterfinals.
Bedard broke five records at the tournament, topping Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and Eric Lindros in several categories.
“I’ve been going to that tournament for more than two decades,” one NHL scout told ESPN. “And what Connor Bedard did, especially with all of the attention and eyes on him, is as impressive of an individual performance as you’ll ever see. The only way I can describe it is pure dominance.”
The only person not gushing about Bedard is Bedard himself. The teenager is well-mannered and trained in dealing with the media, following the unwritten rules of hockey — thou shalt not talk about thyself — as if they are scripture. Good luck getting him to admit what the world has already assumed. Every conversation about Bedard’s NHL future includes qualifiers such as “if I am lucky enough to get drafted.”
“He doesn’t take for granted what other people are saying about him or what he’s accomplished,” Pats coach John Paddock said. “I’ve never heard him talk about being drafted No. 1, even though there’s probably not a person who thinks he won’t. But he knows what he wants to do and where he wants to go. And it’s all business all the time. It’s his routine, his habits, that all shine.”
BEDARD WAS BORN on July 17, 2005, just 13 days before his childhood idol, Sidney Crosby, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He began playing hockey at age 4 or 5. “Just stickhandling and shooting,” Bedard said. “Imagining Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final stuff, like any kid.”
Bedard also played soccer until he was 12, but then hockey became his full focus. His family learned to adjust.
“There was one time my sister really wanted to go to Hawaii,” Bedard said. “I told my parents I really didn’t want to because we were going to go for a week, and that’s a really long time without hockey.”
They compromised. “I went to the airport, got my ticket, and had a hockey bag,” Bedard said. “I probably looked like a bit of an idiot when I got there, but I got to rollerblade and stickhandle around the seawall.”
Bedard said he gets his work ethic from his father, Tom, a logger in Vancouver.
“He would kind of get up at 3, 4 in the morning and head to work,” Bedard said. “It was a three-hour drive, sometimes four. And then you’re in the mountain, climbing up there, cutting down trees. It’s a pretty physical job, and dangerous. He tells stories of people getting hurt. One time he broke his leg logging.”
When Tom Bedard would return home, he’d drive his son to hockey practice. On weekends, it was tournaments.
“Doing all of that, he was probably pretty tired,” Bedard said. “But he always had a positive attitude.”
The most prescient lesson passed down from father to son: Be where your feet are.
“He always said to never wish time away,” Bedard said. “He was always like, ‘Just enjoy right now and where you are right now, and before you know it whatever you are looking forward to will have happened.'”
CONNOR BEDARD IS a student of the game. He says he watches Auston Matthews goals on YouTube, then tries to replicate aspects of his shot. He examines McDavid’s skating, Patrick Kane‘s passing. But Bedard draws the most holistic inspiration from Crosby. Bedard studies Crosby’s puck protection and 200-foot game on the ice, and watches Crosby’s news conferences and social interactions off the ice.
“[Crosby is] just incredible,” Bedard said. “You see him with kids, you see him with the media, and he never really makes a mistake. He carries himself so well, always. There’s a humbleness to him. He doesn’t love talking about himself. He always tries to involve his teammates, involve people that have helped him.”
Which is exactly what Bedard tries to replicate.
Bedard said that if he gets a big NHL paycheck, he wants to thank his family for their support. “I’ll probably get my mom something,” Bedard said. “My dream is to pay off their house or get them a house. I hope I can do that one day.”
Even away from the spotlight, there are aspects about Bedard that make him stand out. “It kind of surprised me because it was my first time seeing it,” Pats teammate Tanner Howe said, “but in the weight room he’s always doing two or three extra reps. That’s his thing.”
And there are times when Bedard seems just like a typical teenager. “If you know him, he’s actually a very funny guy,” Pats teammate Alexander Suzdalev said. “He’ll chirp you on the ice.”
This is echoed by Howe, but out of deference, both players say they can’t cite specific examples. “Just trust me,” Suzdalev said. “He’s got a lot of good ones.”
Bedard knows there are things he can’t control: where his NHL career will begin, how others perceive him. On the latter, however, he has some ideas about where he’d like people to start.
“I mean, you’ll have your own opinion on watching me or whatnot,” Bedard said. “But I just want to be seen as someone that has always given it their all and is a good person as much as a good player.”
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David Schoenfield
There’s plenty of history in the rivalry between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. It’s about 116 miles from Citi Field to Citizens Bank Park. The two teams been competing for the NL East since 1969. Star players from Tug McGraw to Jerry Koosman to Lenny Dykstra to Pedro Martinez to Zack Wheeler have played for both franchises. Mets fans loathe the Phanatic, and Phillies fans laugh derisively at Mr. Met.
Despite this longevity, the two teams have rarely battled for a division title in the same season. The only years they finished No. 1 and 2 or were battling for a division lead late in the season:
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1986: Mets finished 21.5 games ahead
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2001: Both finished within six games of the Braves
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2006: Mets finished 12 games ahead
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2007: Phillies finished one game ahead
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2008: Phillies finished three games ahead
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2024: Phillies finished six games ahead of Mets and Braves
So it’s a rare treat to see the Mets and Phillies battling for the NL East lead in as New York faces the San Francisco Giants on “Sunday Night Baseball” this week. This season has also been a bit of bumpy ride for both teams, so there is pressure on both front offices to make trade deadline additions in hopes of winning the World Series that has eluded both franchises in recent years despite high payrolls and star-laden rosters. Let’s dig into what both teams need to do before Thursday.
The perfect trade deadline for the Mets
1. Bullpen help
The Mets already acquired hard-throwing lefty Gregory Soto from the Orioles, but David Stearns will likely look for another reliever, given that the Mets’ bullpen has struggled since the beginning of June with a 5.02 ERA. In my grade of the trade, I pointed out the importance for the Mets to add left-handed relief. Think of potential playoff opponents and all the key left-handed batters: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the Phillies; Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy on the Dodgers; Kyle Tucker, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong on the Cubs.
Soto has held lefties to a .138 average this season, and it does help that the Mets have two lefty starters in David Peterson and Sean Manaea. They also just activated Brooks Raley after he had been out since early 2024. If he is back to his 2022-23 form, when he had a 2.74 ERA and held lefties to a .209 average, maybe the Mets will feel good enough about their southpaw relief.
They could still use another dependable righty reliever. Mets starters were hot early on, but they weren’t going deep into games, and outside of Peterson, the lack of longer outings is a big reason the bullpen ERA has skyrocketed. Carlos Mendoza has overworked his setup guys, including Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett. Brazoban has never been much of a strike thrower anyway, and Garrett similarly faded in the second half last season. Adding a high-leverage righty to set up Edwin Diaz makes sense. Candidates there include David Bednar of the Pirates, Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, Griffin Jax or Jhoan Duran of the Twins, or maybe a longer shot such as Emmanuel Clase or Cade Smith of the Guardians.
2. Think big, as in Eugenio Suarez
Mark Vientos was a huge key to last season’s playoff appearance and trip to the NLCS, hitting .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs after beginning the season in Triple-A. He hasn’t been able to replicate that performance, though, hitting .224/.279/.354. That has led to a revolving door at third base, with Vientos, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio starting games there in July. Overall, Mets third basemen ranked 24th in the majors in OPS entering Friday.
Lack of production at third is one reason the Mets’ offense has been mediocre rather than very good — they’re averaging 4.38 runs per game, just below the NL average of 4.43. They could use another premium bat, given the lack of production they’ve received from center field and catcher (not to mention Francisco Lindor‘s slump since the middle of June). Maybe Francisco Alvarez‘s short stint back in Triple-A will get his bat going now that he’s back in the majors, but going after Suarez to hit behind Juan Soto and Pete Alonso would lengthen the lineup.
3. Reacquire Harrison Bader to play CF
Tyrone Taylor is a plus defender in center and has made several incredible catches, but he’s hitting .209/.264/.306 for a lowly OPS+ of 65. Old friend Bader is having a nice season with the Twins, hitting .251/.330/.435. Maybe that’s a little over his head, given that he had a .657 OPS with the Mets last season, but he would still be an offensive upgrade over Taylor without losing anything on defense — and he wouldn’t cost a top-tier prospect. The Mets could still mix in Jeff McNeil against the really tough righties, but adding Suarez and Bader would give this lineup more of a championship feel.
The perfect deadline for the Phillies
1. Acquire Jhoan Duran
Like the Mets, the Phillies already made a move here, signing free agent David Robertson, who had a 3.00 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 72 innings last season with the Rangers. On paper, he should help, but he’s also 40 and will need a few games in the minors to get ready. Even with Robertson, the Phillies could use some more help here. They’ll eventually get Jose Alvarado back from his 60-game PED suspension, but Alvarado is ineligible for the postseason. At least the Mets have an elite closer in Edwin Diaz. Jordan Romano leads the Phillies with eight saves and has a 6.69 ERA. Matt Strahm is solid, but more useful as a lefty setup guy than a closer (think of all those left-handed batters we listed for the Mets, then sub out Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo for Harper and Schwarber).
And the Phillies’ bullpen has consistently come up short in big games. Think back to last year’s NLDS, when Jeff Hoffman lost twice to the Mets. Or 2023, when Craig Kimbrel lost two games in the NLCS against the Diamondbacks. Or the 2022 World Series, when Yordan Alvarez hit the huge home run off Alvarado in the clinching Game 6.
So, yes, a shutdown closer is a must. Maybe that’s Bednar, maybe Clase if he’s available (although he struggled in last year’s postseason), maybe Helsley. But the guy Dave Dombrowski should go all-in to get: Duran. The window for the Phillies is slowly closing as the core players get older. Duran is under control through 2027, so he’s a fit for now and the immediate future. The trade cost might be painful, but with his 100 mph fastball and splitter, he has the elite stuff you need in October.
2. Add Ryan O’Hearn
The Phillies have received below-average production from both left field (mostly Max Kepler) and center field (Brandon Marsh/Johan Rojas platoon). The center-field market is pretty thin except for Bader or maybe a gamble on Luis Robert Jr. I’d pass on Robert, stick with the Marsh/Rojas platoon and upgrade left field with O’Hearn, who is hitting .281/.375/.452 for the Orioles. He isn’t the perfect fit since, like Kepler, he hits left-handed and struggles against lefties, but he’s a patient hitter with a much better OBP, and he’s passable in the outfield.
3. Acquire Willi Castro
Here’s the bottom line: The Phillies have to admit that some of their long-term position players aren’t getting the job done — such as second baseman Bryson Stott, who has a 77 OPS+. Third baseman Alec Bohm has been better but also has a below-average OPS.
That makes Castro a nice fit. He’s not a star, but he’s an above-average hitter, a switch-hitter who plays all over the field for the Twins, having started games at five different positions. He could play second or third or start in left field against a lefty. Philadelphia could even start him in center instead of Rojas, although that would be a defensive hit. Bottom line: Castro would give the Phillies a lot more versatility — or a significant offensive upgrade over Stott if they start him every day at second.
Note as well: Stott has hit .188 in 33 career postseason games. Bohm has hit .214 with two home runs in 34 postseason games. The Phillies need a different offensive look for October.
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