Connor Bedard will make his unofficial Chicago Blackhawks debut this weekend in Minnesota at the 2023 Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase featuring some of the club's top prospects. Chicago will play St. Louis on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Minnesota on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Bedard is expected to participate in at least one of the games — it sounds like Saturday — and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft is desperately looking forward to it.
"I want to play a game so bad," Bedard said. "It's been so long, so I'm really excited for that."
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Part of the reason Bedard wants to play is because he feels it will best prepare him for NHL training camp, which opens on Sept. 21. The other is because he doesn't exactly want special treatment. He wants to be treated like everyone else.
"I think that's what will get me ready, to be honest with you," Bedard said. "I haven't played a game in a long time and that's what I want to do. And I'm a rookie, like any other guy here."