Canada's Olympic reveal shows how far Blackhawks star Connor Bedard is from elite status

Considering Connor Bedard did not make Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off squad, it should come as no surprise that he was not announced among Team Canada's first six selections for next year's Olympic squad.

What Canada's first six announcement did show is just how far Connor Bedard is away from being considered elite. That is the status needed to be considered as a no-brainer selection for top-line international competition.

Canada announced their top three forwards on next year's Olympic roster are the elite of the elite in Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon.

The hope is that Bedard can reach elite status by 2030.

If he is at the level, hopefully it means the Blackhawks are back in contention for the Stanley Cup. Thankfully, NHL players agreed to play in the 2030 Olympics, so a five-year timeline is realistic to see if Bedard can be on the same level as Crosby, McDavid, and MacKinnon are at now.

Plus, Bedard still does not turn 20 for another month, so five years to achieve top-tier player status seems fair.

Maybe if he is on the same superstar development timeline as MacKinnon and McDavid, he can get there sooner.

MacKinnon started getting Hart Trophy consideration by the time he was 22. McDavid won his first Hart Trophy at 20. Crosby won his first MVP honors at 19.

Maybe what McDavid and Crosby accomplished at such an early age set up an unrealistic expectation for Bedard. Crosby at least had Evgeni Malkin winning the Calder the same season Sid won his first MVP award. McDavid had Leon Draisaitl starting to emerge in 2016-17. He even had a productive Pat Maroon on that team.

Bedard had the old and ready-to-retire Maroon this season. You can see how having better talent also raises a star player to a superstar status.

While Bedard should receive consideration for an invite to the Olympics, it is no sure thing.

He got snubbed for the 4-Nations roster. Canada is stacked with talent, so being a star player might not be good enough to earn an invite. Playing on a weak Blackhawks roster makes him stand out or be viewed as not good enough to some. It also makes him ordinary in the eyes of Team Canada.

As hard as that sounds, that is how deep the talent pool is for Canada to pick from to go for the gold in Italy next year.

Remember, Bedard was left off of Canada's 4-Nations final 13 forwards list because he was viewed as not being ready to push some of those great veteran players off the roster.

Hopefully, skipping the World Championships this summer allows Bedard to put in the work to start being viewed in a better light.