Projected to be the No. 1 selection in the 2023 NHL Draft, the 17-year-old forward is taking a top-line role with Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship at Rogers Place, before playing with Regina of the WHL this season.
He didn't look out of place in that role Wednesday, when he had a goal and an assist in Canada's first game of the tournament,
a 5-2 win
against Latvia.
"I think playing in this tournament is going to help me a lot this year," Bedard said Tuesday. "Playing against the best in the world is always good for you and I think it'll be good for me going into Regina."
Bedard, who is from North Vancouver, British Columbia, is the only player to be awarded exceptional status by the WHL, allowing him in the league as an underaged player at 15. He was one of the few 16-year-olds to be selected to Canada's world junior team this past season, joining an exclusive club, which includes Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
Bedard became the youngest player at the World Junior Championship to score four goals in a game and had five points (four goals, one assist) in two games in December before the event was cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns, and rescheduled for August.
Gretzky was the last 16-year-old to score three goals in a game for Canada at the World Junior Championship in 1977.
"I've had a few months since that tournament and you get older and stronger and things like that, but I think the goal still remains the same," Bedard said. "I'm just as excited now as I was then to get started."
Bedard (5-10, 183 pounds) will begin the tournament on Canada's top line at right wing with center Mason McTavish and left wing Joshua Roy. McTavish, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks, was named Canada's captain.
"Bedard**
