Connor Bedard

Connor Thomas Bedard (born July 17, 2005) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre and captain for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of the top ice hockey prospects of his generation, he was selected first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL entry draft and made his NHL debut that year. Bedard would go on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in 2024. Bedard was selected by the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League (WHL) first overall in the WHL bantam draft in 2020 as the first WHL player of exceptional player status and won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie player in his debut season. In his third year in the WHL, he won the Bob Clarke Trophy as the league's leading scorer and was given the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as its most valuable player, before also earning the Canadian Hockey League's Top Scorer and Player of the Year honours. Competing internationally for Canada, Bedard won championships with the Canadian national under-18 team in 2021 and with the Canadian national junior team in 2022 and 2023. His 2023 tournament performance set several national and international points records and led to him being named the event's MVP. Bedard was the inaugural recipient of the IIHF Male Player of the Year award.