The Blackhawks spent the offseason adding some veteran pieces around Bedard so he could begin flourishing with the right influences around him. They added Taylor Hall, the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 that's bounced around to several teams, along with more skill in Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi.

For context, the Blackhawks won 26 games the season before drafting Bedard, then went on to win even fewer games (23) during his rookie season. They have 14 wins at the halfway point of the 2024-25 regular season, putting them on pace for a modest increase to 28.

Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1. Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Chicago, which had lost six of seven.