Bedard not satisfied despite elite play at World Juniors

Projected to be the No. 1 pick of the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, the 17-year-old forward has been a daily conversation piece, seemingly producing a special moment each game.

“I’ve got to keep thinking of a new word every day to describe him a little bit,” Canada coach Dennis Williams said after Bedard made more magic in scoring the overtime goal to defeat Slovakia in the quarterfinals Monday.

About the only one not impressed by Bedard’s play?

Connor Bedard.

“I’ve got to go prove it to myself again,” Bedard said. “My mentality is, play bad or good, the next game I’ve got to prove it again.”

In reality, there’s not much left for Bedard to prove.

“It’s just spectacular the things that he can do,” said forward Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars), who has played center on Bedard’s line for most of the tournament. “He’s always been great, but the show that he’s putting on here, it’s just speechless for a lot of us guys.”

While most of the talk surrounds Bedard’s remarkable overtime goal against Slovakia — more on that in a bit — it’s the first goal he scored Monday that cleared a bunch of space in Canada’s portion of the World Juniors record book.

* It was Bedard’s 19th point of the tournament, passing Dale McCourt (1977) and Brayden Schenn (2011) for the most by a Canada player in a single World Juniors. He’s up to 21 entering Canada’s game against the United States in the semifinals at Scotiabank Centre on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).

* It was his 15th goal in 14 World Junior games, passing Jordan Eberle for most by a Canada player. His overtime goal pushed his total to 16.

* It was his 32nd point, passing Eric Lindros for most by a Canada player at the World Juniors. He’s at 34 now with at least one game remaining.

Bedard also had an assist on a second-period power-play goal by Dylan Guenther (Arizona Coyotes). It was his 13th of the tournament to set another Canada record, passing Jason Allison’s mark of 12 at the 1995 WJC.

“It’s unbelievable,” forward Shane Wright (Seattle Kraken) said. “I don’t even know how many records he has now, too many to count or to keep track of. It’s just a testament to the type player he is.”

Lindros sent a tweet Sunday encouraging Bedard to break his record, and Eberle recorded a video Monday congratulating Bedard on breaking his mark.

Eberle said he missed the first period while his Kraken were traveling to play the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, but was glued to the TV for the rest of the game.

“You could almost feel [the overtime goal] coming with the amount of chances he had before the goal,” Eberle said. “He’s one of those players you turn on the TV to watch. He’s that explosive and dangerous. Every time he gets the puck, fans get on their feet. It’s been really enjoyable to watch.”

Bedard said he’s appreciative of all the attention but said it can’t change his approach.

“I think it’s pretty special, Eric Lindros, Jordan Eberle, two unbelievable players and they’ve accomplished a lot more than I have,” Bedard said. “So it’s cool to hear that, but I’m not focused on that.”

Bedard’s otherworldly playmaking skill is his most obvious trait, but it’s his humbleness that stands out to teammates.

“Everyone sees how skilled he is, everyone sees the talent, but you would never know in the room,” Wright said. “He’s just one of the guys. Just kind of goes around, he doesn’t talk about the records, not really something that gets brought up at all. It’s kind of a byproduct of his talent, his skill, the work he’s put in. We’re obviously super happy to see him achieve that, but him and everyone else is more excited to see the team win there.”

The team has been winning in large part because of Bedard, especially Monday.

After Slovakia tied the game 3-3 midway through the third period, Bedard had several chances to put Canada ahead, including a shot off the post with 44 seconds left in the third.

The game went to 3-on-3 overtime, and midway through, Bedard skated into the spotlight. He picked up the puck at the top of the Slovakia zone on the right side and skated into the high slot. He made a quick cut to his right as he darted around forward Libor Nemec (2023 draft eligible), who was left swatting his stick at Bedard’s breeze. When Peter Repcik (2023 draft eligible) stepped up to defend him in the right circle, he faked a shot and quickly pulled the puck around the forward to create a path to the net. Goalie Adam Gajan (2023 draft eligible) attempted a poke check but Bedard deftly pulled the puck around him and under the outstretched stick of defenseman Simon Nemec (New Jersey Devils), and slid a backhand into a nearly empty net.

“I saw the one guy kind of made a move and saw a little lane to the net and tried to make another move,” Bedard said. “I think it’s kind of instinct and luckily it went in.”

Canada goalie Thomas Milic (2023 draft eligible) had a slightly different way to describe it.

“It’s almost like he’s pressing random buttons on the Xbox controller, coming up with some of these dangles,” he said.

Williams said the goal was an example of the preternatural maturity of Bedard’s game.

“The way he’s able to sell that shot, protecting for the extra deception and move there, you don’t teach those things,” Williams said. “His poise … most players probably would have shot it right the pads, [thinking] I’ve just got to get it on net. But to have that extra move to calm things down? Right now whose stick would you want it on more than Connor’s right there?”

Oilers forward Connor McDavid was one of those fans who expected Bedard to shoot it.

“He’s such a great shooter and you’re screaming at the TV for him to shoot it, but he can obviously make those plays as well,” McDavid said. “It was really impressive.

“Beautiful goal at a big time, that’s what big players dream of doing and he got a chance to do that and it was really cool to see.” 

Defenseman Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles Kings) was the last player to touch the puck before Bedard and was on the wall on the left side calling for it back — for a moment, at least.

“I see him burn the first guy and I’m like, he’s going to pull this off,” Clarke said. “He burns the next guy, burns the next guy, goes to the backhand on the goalie. That’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. That guy’s so remarkable. It’s kind of remarkable how he just finds a new way to impress. You think you finally got him figured out and you know his game and he pulls out some like that. It’s pretty crazy.”

Even opponents were left impressed, with Slovakia forward Filip Mesar (Montreal Canadiens) saying Bedard was “like in another dimension there.”

Clarke began the season in the NHL and his Kings teammates include two-time Stanley Cup winners Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick, and in his nine games he shared the ice with Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

Clarke has no doubt that next season Bedard will be among them as an NHL star.

“Me and Guenther were talking in the room after the game and we’re like, he could very well be a point per game guy next year,” Clarke said.

Schenn, in his 14th NHL season, also has been impressed by what he’s seen from Bedard.

“Everyone talks about how good a goal scorer he is, but from watching him for a short period of time, he’s able to control the play, slow down the play when he wants and find the open man,” Schenn said. “He’s a dynamic goal scorer but from the looks of things, he has such great vision that he finds his teammates and draws guys to him which forces other guys to be open and he makes that play.”

But the NHL is in the future for Bedard. His only focus is the U.S. and adding another World Juniors gold medal to the one he won at the 2022 WJC in August.

Vancouver Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said he watched “the one highlight that counted” from the Canada-Slovakia game, and said Bedard reminded him of other star NHL players he’s been around.

“Those are the guys that want everything on their shoulders,” he said. “They want to be the guy and they go out and prove that they want to be the guy. I’ve seen it a lot, whether I played with them or watched [Wayne] Gretzky a lot and coached Alex [Ovechkin] and [Corey] Perry and [Ryan] Getzlaf and these guys and they want all the pressure on them and this young man looks like he’s that kind of guy as well. So I think hockey’s really got their future laid out with superstars and that’s a great thing to see for the game.”

But the NHL is in the future for Bedard. His only focus is the U.S. and adding another World Juniors gold medal to the one he won at the 2022 WJC in August.

“I’m not focused on personal success here,” he said. “I want another gold medal and that’s all I want.”

NHL.com independent correspondents Dave McCarthy, Derek Van Diest and Kevin Woodley contributed to this report

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