Leafs' John Tavares raves about Connor Bedard as Blackhawks shield rookie from Toronto media

Connor Bedard is unquestionably the most intriguing player in hockey right now and his peers are raving about the 18-year-old phenom in the midst of a five-game road stand to start his young NHL career.

Bedard, widely considered the best prospect to enter the league since Auston Matthews, has recorded points in each of his first three games and ahead of Monday’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, all eyes are on the 2023 first-overall pick.

It’s worth noting that the Blackhawks did not make Bedard available Monday, despite being the story of the moment.

“It’s been a lot of fun for me,” Bedard said Sunday via Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. “Of course, there’s been a lot of media, a lot of attention on it, but I’m just focused on playing hockey.”

Maple Leafs captain John Tavares was also a generational prospect in his own right, forcing the Canadian Hockey League to make an exception for 15-year-old players entering major junior, before being selected first overall in his respective OHL and NHL Drafts. Tavares is uniquely qualified in this regard to speak about the pressure Bedard is subject to.

“You can see what makes him a very special player,” Tavares said of Bedard. “Being around him and seeing him speak, I think the way he carries himself is extremely, extremely impressive. Reminds me a lot of Sid.”

“So, it’s not surprising how he is able to just lock in, to play well and look pretty good.”

Matthews, the 2022 Hart Trophy recipient, has been on fire to start the season with consecutive hat-tricks. Matthews has been the NHL’s best player through the opening week and, like Bedard, can relate to the experience of entering the league at 18 while playing in a hockey-crazed, Original Six market.

“It’s easy to get down on yourself, or it’s easy to get maybe emotionally a little bit out of it. Sometimes just trying to reel that back in can be a struggle,” Matthews said. “So, I think just always having a positive mindset of every day is a good opportunity to go out, have fun.”

Fraser Minten cracked the Maple Leafs’ opening night roster as a 19-year-old and for the time being, looks poised to stay beyond a nine-game tryout. Minten and Bedard have been close friends, starring together in Vancouver’s minor hockey circuit before embarking upon their respective careers in the Western Hockey League.

Minten was asked about when he realized Bedard was a prodigy in the same vein of Steven Stamkos, who was on the national map before entering the Ontario Hockey League.

“He was shooting the puck just as good if not better than those guys,” Minten said Monday of his good friend. “And that was probably when I realized it was pretty world-class, that release."

Bedard has registered a goal and three points during his opening three games with 16 shots, while his team controls 56 percent of the expected goals when he’s on the ice at 5-on-5.

You don’t need the stats to understand the precociousness of Bedard — he’s being guarded like an A-list celebrity ahead of his tour date in the largest hockey media market in the world.