Connor Bedard’s return badly needed for Blackhawks

It’s been a rough start to a crucial year for the Chicago Blackhawks, who went 1-5-0 and cratered to last place in the Central Division in six games without new captain and franchise player Connor Bedard, who was out with a shoulder injury he sustained over the summer.

Bedard made his return to the lineup on Tuesday night as the Blackhawks earned a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, and his presence was felt from the get-go. Fresh off signing a massive five-year, $75 million extension and being named captain of the Original Six franchise over the summer, Bedard recorded an assist in the victory and offered a massive boost in morale for a team whose season was in danger of slipping away early.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed the impact Bedard’s return can have on a struggling Chicago team, both in terms of his skill and the mental lift his presence adds.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Connor Bedard found the scoresheet in his return to the lineup as the Blackhawks picked up a much, much, much needed win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They were 1-5, they’re now 2-5, that feels a little bit better, but a sigh of relief to see Connor Bedard back and being competitive. It gave us our first look at the Connor Bedard and Patrick Kane show, if you will. A solid win by the Blackhawks, and that Central Division, Hutts, it’s borderline more competitive than we thought it would be. Utah looks just awesome… The Jets pick up another win, they’re 4-1-1. Minnesota, they were banged up… They’re still 4-2-1. Colorado’s good. Dallas is maybe the one sore spot… The Hawks get Bedard back, and it could not have come at a better time because they are going to be scratching and clawing to stay competitive in this division.

Carter Hutton: And I think the factor is you get a little bit of run support last night from Teravainen and Kantersov, and then you get Bedard back in the lineup. It feels like the honeymoon phase of the rebuild is over though in Chicago, right, like the expectations are here. I feel like we’ve felt that with certain teams where you get a little bit of a grace period, and I think San Jose had it… They’re in a window where expectations are higher, you have to win, and I think for the Chicago Blackhawks, the factor is now you’re looking at some pieces that they’ve brought in whether it’s Bowen Byram or obviously Patrick Kane coming back… The expectations are now that you’re going to be a competitive team and in the hunt in a tough, tough division. So I think last night is good… The slotting is important, what Bedard can play, he looked good last night, and I would expect him to be continually churning, I’m just not ready to call this team a competitive, right on the edge of the playoffs. I think they’re going to improve, but I just think this division is too good.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…