Bedard focused on Pats’ season, not looking ahead to Draft Lottery

The race to the bottom of the National Hockey League standings has taken on a new sense of urgency following Connor Bedard’s historic performance at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Already presumed to be the No. 1 pick this June, Bedard’s performance has vaulted him to generational status and has made him the most coveted prospect since Connor McDavid entered the draft eight years ago.

While NHL teams try to put themselves in the best position to win this summer’s draft lottery, Bedard says he does not look at the current NHL standings, instead focusing on the remainder of his season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.

"I try not to look at all. I try not to get ahead of myself. About 30 games left in our season and I'm still trying to improve myself,” Bedard said Wednesday on Leafs Lunch. “[The Draft lottery] is still pretty far away so I try to focus on my own team and what we're doing here.”

The Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, and Bedard’s hometown Vancouver Canucks are all teams with a shot at winning the lottery.

The 17-year-old solidified his spot at the top of draft boards during Canada’s run to gold at the World Juniors, Bedard’s second WJC gold in five months, scoring nine goals with a tournament best 23 points in seven games. He broke Canadian records for most points and assists at a single World Juniors and broke Jordan Eberle’s national record for most career goals at the U20 tournament. He also passed Jaromir Jagr’s record for most points at the World Juniors by a player aged 18 years or younger.

With his special talent on display on the international stage, Bedard told Leafs Lunch that he models the different aspects of his game off the strength of several NHL superstars.

"Not one player. I watch a lot of hockey and I try to pick apart a lot of things. Like [Auston] Matthews shot, for example, or [Nikita] Kucherov's passing, and obviously the way [Connor] McDavid and [Nathan] MacKinnon attack guys,” said Bedard. “There's so many things you can take away from each player and I've always tried to do that."

Bedard has scored 31 goals and added 39 assists in 29 games with the Pats this season, including six points in his first game back following the World Juniors. Despite Regina (19-19-1) sitting in seventh in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, Bedard was not moved at the CHL trade deadline and will be announced as a Pat at the draft in Nashville this summer, a move the North Vancouver native was thrilled with.

“I love it here. It's where I've been my whole career. I was really happy."

With 28 games remaining in the Pats season, Bedard has a chance to break one more scoring record before heading to the NHL. At a pace of 2.41 points per game, Bedard is within striking distance of Brian Shantz’s CHL scoring record of 139 points in 1995-96.