Connor Bedard Speaks Out on 4 Nations Face-Off

One day in the not-too-distant future, rising star Connor Bedard hopes to play for Canada in an international tournament like the ongoing 4 Nations Face-Off. He's been watching the event closely, and is pretty stoked about it all.

Connor Bedard on the 4 Nations tournament: "It's been unreal. It's probably been the highest level of hockey ever played. I mean, that Canada game, first 10 seconds there's 3 fights. I think people were wondering how it would be and it's been unbelievable to watch. It's great for…
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 18, 2025

"It's been unreal. It's probably been the highest level of hockey ever played," gushed the 19-year-old Bedard.

"I mean, that Canada(vs USA) game, first 10 seconds there's 3 fights. I think people were wondering how it would be and it's been unbelievable to watch. It's great for the game, and obviously playing for your country shows a lot of pride. It's been fun to watch."

The reigning Calder Trophy winner, and supposed "generational player" can only "watch" rather than participate, as he is not having the kind of sophomore season that was hoped for by the Chicago Blackhawks (and hockey fans all around). He has 16 goals and 49 points in 55 games, following up his 22-goal rookie season with 61 games in 68 games. His production should wind up being pretty similar to his first year, but the Hawks were hoping for a giant leap.

Because of the way things have gone, Bedard was not named to Team Canada for the 4 Nations. As for whether he can make Canada's Olympic team roster for the 2026 Games next year, that is still to be determined.

"We'll have tough decisions to make moving forward," Canadian team general manager Don Sweeney said after selecting the 4 Nations roster. "I do believe the next wave of generational players that we have in Canada are going to make these decisions equally as hard as they were (for this event)."