What does Connor Bedard have in store for year four?

Ever since Connor Bedard was drafted first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023, he has been the Blackhawks' best player.

He has been the team's leading scorer and has gotten better with each season, which is what you want to see from a franchise player.

Now, he is going into his fourth season with a major contract extension in tow and bigger aspirations.

His 2026-27 storyline will encompass what that next step for him will look like.

How Bedard has continued to improve amid setbacks

Bedard's resume is well known by now. Calder Trophy winner and All-Star, he is not only the face of the franchise but also the face of the offense, contributing to 35.7 percent of the team's goals last season.

It's also well known that he has been dealt an unlucky hand, with injuries disrupting his seasons before he really got a chance to get going. One of the biggest "what-ifs" last year is what Bedard's season would have looked like if he hadn't suffered a shoulder injury in December, because at the time, he was top-3 in the NHL in scoring.

However, when he wasn't in the lineup, it reiterated just how important he is to the Blackhawks. As head coach Jeff Blashill mentioned, in part, when asked about Bedard being left off the Canadian Olympic team, "...The metric that I trust is your impact on winning, and the reason why I know he's a big-time winning hockey player; when he was in our lineup, we were one point out of the wild card, and since then, we're 1-6-1. That's the impact he's had. That's the type of two-way player... you don't have that impact if you're just a point getter. You only have that impact if you're a true, two-way kind of winning player. And that's what he's become.”

He is a big name in the NHL, yet you can say the 21 year old is getting overlooked a bit because we are still waiting for Bedard to hit his true ceiling, and that's something to look forward to.

His stats improved across the board last season, hitting his first 30-goal season, 75 points in 69 games (career-high), and a faceoff percentage of 47.1%, which was an increase from his previous 38.3%. He also had a significant season in that he earned the "A" after their main leadership group of Nick Foligno, Connor Murphy, and Jason Dickinson got traded.

Like every other Blackhawks player, he's had his hiccups as he grows into his overall game. But he remains focused on getting stronger every year.

He mentioned in his exit interviews what he was working on: "I think kind of similar goals for me. I think everyone's going to say faster, stronger, kind of thing. But I think trying to get another step is always going to be what I'm doing. I think if I can get a bit quicker every year, then it's just gonna help my game in so many ways. So that's probably my main goal, and then just kind of work on everything on the ice and whatever. So, I'm looking forward to that chance to have some time to improve myself and my game."

Blashill said about his season, "I thought Connor had an excellent year, to be honest with you. I think if you look at when he got hurt, he was certainly one of the very best players in the league. My biggest thing with Connor, to be honest with you, isn't about points or that type of thing. It's about what his mindset was, getting to know him and where his mindset is, and his mindset is 100 percent on playing winning hockey and building this thing to a winning team more than anything else.

"Once I realized that, I was honestly just really, really pleased with kind of his approach on a daily basis that way. Has he been perfect? No. Is he learning, like every elite scorer that comes in the league, how to do things and play that type of winning hockey every shift? Yes. But he's committed to it. And as long as his mindset is in that place, which it is, then he'll continue to, I think, just skyrocket as a player.”

Bedard will look to establish himself further in 2026-27

Although there are eyes on how his season will unfold because he will miss the start of the season recovering from shoulder surgery, he should return with a vengeance.

After all, his will to win is clear, and as he said himself, their goal is to be a playoff team. He is a big part of the team's ascent and will look to show it even more.

Overall, Bedard's fourth year carries intrigue for him and the Blackhawks. The team should improve, and when he's back to 100 percent, his numbers should keep rising. It also seems likely that he'll get the Blackhawks captaincy this season or next.

Therefore, what Bedard has in store this season could prove to be the most significant yet.

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