Did Blackhawks' Connor Bedard Lose His Confidence Again?

But what should be common knowledge, and practice for Blackhawks players seems to be missed at key moments on the ice.

Tonight, we saw 1st overall pick in 2023 cut through the Hurricanes' defense like a hot knife through butter.

He'd make it to the crease and have a chance to score on Pyotr Kochetkov, and but opted to pass the puck to his teammate instead.

The play was inexplicably his to score on, but he instead opted to try to make a center-ice pass to Landon Slaggert, which failed miserably.

It's not like offense comes easy against a team like Rod Brind'Amour's, which has been consistently a threat in the NHL.

Bedard's been invisible tonight, as Ilya Mikheyev was the only Blackhawks player to score against the Canes.

He's been on the ice for 2 goals against, with 1 shot on goal, with a total of 1 hit, 1 giveaway, and 16 shifts tonight.

Bedard's played as of this writing, 16:22 TOI tonight, and has yet to find the back of the net, despite giving a prime scoring opportunity.

Is his confidence yet again wavering under Anders Sorensen's system, which is specifically designed to give him a chance to shoot and pass the puck more?

In 50 games this season with the Blackhawks he's scored 44 points (14 G, 30 A) and will have to step up his game if he is to outdo his rookie year in the NHL.

In 2023-2024, he looked much, much more confident.

Bedard has finally tallied his 15th goal of the season. But our critique of his play tonight stands.

As an elite player on the ice, he needs to work to find the net as often as possible.

Bedard now has 45 points in (15 G, 30 A) in 51 games this season.

The Blackhawks are now within one point of the Canes, 3-2.