According to my father, you can’t wear the jersey of a player who is younger than you. Will he break that rule for Connor Bedard? Probably not — Dad’s a crank. But many Chicagoans will. Here’s why.

The Flop

After trading away five of their top eight scorers of recent seasons, the Hawks finished dead last in their division. Just in time, it so happens, for a certain puck-slapping prodigy to be eligible for the 2023 NHL draft. How serendipitous! To be clear: The Blackhawks have not admitted to tanking. Nor am I, ahem, making that allegation. But in the words of a certain four-times-indicted ex–commander in chief: People are saying the Hawks intentionally shat the bed for a shot at Bedard. Still, tanking is no guarantee of future success. The Blackhawks had just an 11.5 percent chance (two teams had better odds in the draft lottery) of winning the first pick. But lo and behold, it was theirs. And soon so was Bedard. Many consider this mild-mannered 18-year-old Canadian a godsend to not just the Hawks but the NHL.

The Origin Story

Bedard, son of a logger, was born in [heavy sigh] 2005 in North Vancouver, British Columbia. From a young age, he obsessively honed his stick handling on roller skates inside the house (because in Canada, hockey trumps property damage). In 2017, in what sounds like a plot twist from Rookie of the Year, Connor broke his right wrist and couldn’t use that arm for 12 weeks. This was an eternity for him. (He once brought roller skates and his stick on a family trip to Hawaii, arguing that a week without hockey was far too long.) But in those three months, he just figured out how to score goals with his nondominant arm. Once his right wrist healed, he came back virtually unstoppable — an ambidextrous goal-scoring machine lauded for his quick release.

A Star Rises

When he was 12 (t-w-e-l-v-e!), Connor was labeled “the future of hockey” by no less than the Hockey News. A publicly humble and understated kid, he rose to the expectations. He was granted “exceptional status” to play in the junior-level Canadian Hockey League a year early. There, Bedard became a star for the Regina (yes, it’s pronounced that way in Canada) Pats. In the 2022–23 season, he logged 71 goals and 72 assists in just 57 games. He sold out arenas. It’s estimated this kid alone brought in $1.5 million for the league. To follow that up, he led Canada to a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. He’s a household name in Canada. And — call it fate — Connor’s great-great-uncle James Bedard played for the Blackhawks in the 1950s. Cue “Chelsea Dagger.”