Hawks’ Kane on Connor Bedard: ‘He’s going to be special’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Before training camp, some of the NHL’s best players got together in Toronto to participate in the BioSteel Camp, which is an annual four-day event.
Patrick Kane is usually a regular at those camps, and one of the players he got to see up close for the first time was Connor Bedard, who’s projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. Right now, the Blackhawks have the best odds at landing Bedard because they are in the basement of the standings.
In an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Chicago, Kane talked about what he thought of Bedard then and what he thinks of him now after coming off a historic performance at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
“He’s coming down to this BioSteel camp with some of the best players in the league and I would say he was one of the guys that really stuck out,” Kane said. “You never really know, those young kids, how they’re going to do, especially coming in with a bunch of NHL players that have had success, a bunch of guys that have experience, have been in the league a long time and he seemed to me that he was very confident.
“I think there was one play in camp, he had a 2-on-0 with [Connor] McDavid and he looked off McDavid and took a shot. *Laughs* We were all kind of laughing on the bench. But yeah, I think the thing with him is he moves so well laterally. Everyone talks about his shot and his ability to shoot from different angles and off a different foot each time but man, the way he moves laterally is what gives him that space to be able to do that, so pretty impressive.”
Kane’s future with the Blackhawks is unclear as we approach the March 3 trade deadline, so who knows whether or not he will have the potential opportunity to play with Bedard. But Kane thinks Bedard will be the real deal in the NHL.
“I think everyone’s kind of wondering how is he going to do at the next level, how’s he going to be,” Kane said. “From what I saw, I think it’s all right there, he’s going to be special.”
Asked whether a player like Bedard could accelerate whatever rebuild a team is going through, Kane responded: “You would think so, right? That’s kind of the hope of a top pick. And it’s not like he’s going to be a first overall pick that’s going to have to wait a year or two, right? He’s going to come right in and be a difference-maker right away, so yeah, I could see that for sure.”
You can listen to the full exclusive interview with Kane on the latest Blackhawks Talk Podcast here:
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