There’s already talk of naming Connor Bedard captain of Chicago.

Connor Bedard is a humble guy. In the interviews we see about him, he’s always the first to say that he has to do the club before thinking about what’s next.

We all agree that it would take a catastrophe (read injury here) not to see him play in his team’s first game… but I don’t hate his humility.

That said, I’m sure you’ll agree that there’s a fine line between making the club and being named captain before your first game in the National Hockey League.

And that’s something NHL Network has been talking about.

On the NHL station’s panel, the question was raised. Former Bettman Tour coach Bruce Boudreau answered the question on the subject.

And while no one said he should be named captain, and Boudreau said it was too soon, the debate was still raised by the TV station.

We all agree that there’s no point in naming Bedard captain right now. He’ll already be under a lot of pressure as the favourite for Rookie of the Year… and as the franchise’s saviour.

I expect the Hawks to name Bedard captain by the end of his entry-level contract. That said, doing so at 18 would be too intense.

With Jonathan Toews gone from Chicago after a successful stint as franchise captain, the hole is huge. I therefore expect the club to spend the next season without a captain to assess the situation.

But I’d appoint a guy in the meantime. So Bedard would be the replacement for the next guy (whether that’s in one, two or three years, it doesn’t matter) and not Toews.

I say this all the same, but Corey Perry might have been named captain of the Habs by Dominique Ducharme if he’d stayed with the Habs instead of leaving for Tampa. And now he’s in Chicago.

I’d name him. And when he leaves, Bedard might be more ready to take on the role.

In a gust

– Who’s going to slow down?

– The link arrived, but late.

– What do you think?

– An exploded referee. [BC]

– Beautiful.

Only a matter of time before we see stuff like this an NHL shootout

🎥: tendysig/IG pic.twitter.com/QiCfZsikFi

– Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) August 28, 2023