Blackhawks to draft Connor Bedard's elite WHL Regina Pats teammate Tanner Howe

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Joshua Deeds
June 13, 2024 (9:38)

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Teammates grow close during their time together, and that was no different than Connor Bedard and his Regina St. Pat teammate, Tanner Howe.

Bedard kept in touch with the St. Pats Captain, Howe during the season, and when word spread of a line brawl between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Regina St. Pats, Bedard without much guessing said:

��I think �Howie' started it,'' Bedard said the next day, laughing.

That's exactly the way Howe plays. The 18-year-old forward from Saskatchewan is aggressive � between the whistles and after them.

��On the ice, he's a bit of a [jerk], and [he's] really talented offensively, as well,'' Bedard said in March. ��All around, he's hard to play against.''

Howe himself told teams during the NHL Combine that, he plays with an aggressiveness on ice, as Bedard has described.

��I play with a lot of fire in my stomach,'' he said. ��I'm a very emotional guy. That's just the way I'll play for the rest of my life.''

Following Bedard's draft year as the 1st overall pick, Howe is making preparations in order to make his value known to NHL teams and find a new home in the worlds best hockey league.

One prospect who could be on the Blackhawks' radar in the 2nd or 3rd round is Tanner Howe, a feisty forward who played with Connor Bedard in Regina for two years.

He's a fan of the possibility: "That would be pretty sweet."

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Howe is projected to be a second or third-round pick, which the Blackhawks could end up picking, as the team has four picks in those rounds: 34th, 50th, 67th, and 72nd overall.

Playing alongside Bedard, his production would skyrocket, posting 69 points in 64 games in 2021-2022 at age 15, and followed it up with 85 points in 67 games in 2022-2023.

And in 2023-2024 Howe didn't slow down, posting 77 points in 68 games, which has scouting reports raving about his work ethic, consistency, and being an efficient player on ice. While not being a flashy player, he's a playmaker and could afford to improve his skating, albeit already a strong skater.

He has his detractors due to his size at 5'10" and 175 pounds, but his physical style of play makes up for his lack of size.

��Even being a smaller guy, I like to be physical, I like to hit and I like to knock guys off pucks,'' Howe said. ��I play a lot bigger than I look.''

He credits his former teammate Bedard, for his dedication to the game, but has himself modeled his own game after NHL players like Brendan Gallagher and Brad Marchand.

But given the chance he could steal any superstars playing style it'd be Matthew Tkachuk:

��I think it's [Panthers forward] Matthew Tkachuk's style of hockey,'' he said. ��He plays with so much emotion. He's a hard worker. He's competitive. He wants to score. He wants to get better each and every day.''

He met with 21 teams this combine and the Blackhawks were one of them.

On June 28-29 in Las Vegas, the Hawks could confirm a legitimate Regina to Chicago pipeline, should they take him. However, chances one of the other 20 NHL teams could take him.

��That would be pretty sweet, [considering] the junior career we had and how fun it was,'' Howe said. ��Getting the chance to play with him would be super cool.''