November 25, 2025 | 12:00pm ET
By Mike Cranwell, TheFourthPeriod.com

BEDARD SHOULD BE ON CANADA’S OLYMPIC SQUAD

Connor Bedard, forward

What’s that? Brayden Point is already on Canada’s Olympic hockey team?

Well, something to know about me, sometimes I go too quickly. And sometimes so does Canada’s management group.

We couldn’t have named someone other than Point? Mitch Marner *ducks the replica Stanley Cups thrown by Maple Leafs fans* felt like a very safe pick. Do they need to have won Lord Stanley’s chalice? Drew Doughty, Mark Stone, even Brad Marchand after that playoff run showed he still had some peak game left all would have been viable options, especially with the expanded 25-man rosters.

But enough about Point for now. Let’s bang our head on the Bedard-for-Team Canada drum as I saw a couple of plays the other night that continue to show why he should be on the team.

If you watch the NHL’s 11+ minute version of Chicago getting drubbed by the periodically available Buffalo Sabres from Friday night, you’ll see that during the first period Bedard had a second assist on Tyler Bertuzzi’s 11th goal of the season. If, however, you were watching live, you’d see how Bedard saved the play in the first place, allowing for the goal-scoring sequence to happen.

Now, in a rink, I can see a system quickly. Watching on TV, you’re at the mercy of the Director sitting in the truck as to what you can see. Throughout the game, it felt like Chicago was playing a 2-1-2 high pressure forecheck, and whoever got there first was F1. In this sequence, with Buffalo already winning 3-0 and Arvid Soderblom looking like a Roxanne fan, Bedard decided to drag his team into the fight.

The puck’s dumped into the right corner in Buffalo’s zone. It becomes one of those awkward plays where Bedard gets there in time to press the defenseman, however the D spins the right way and suddenly the puck is gone, about to head out of the zone. Now, most players would have spun, frustrated, and slowly got up to speed on the backcheck. Bedard, however, read the change in direction, quickly headed up the ice, and another Blackhawk was able to shut down the breakout and keep the puck in, passing it to Bedard who had pace moving toward the puck. That’s where the video picks up, Bedard plays within the system, makes smart, simple plays, and Chicago scores.

• Strong F1 on the forecheck

• Quick to start the backcheck

• Tracking the puck, putting himself in position to make a play when his team keeps the puck in

• QB’s the possession, leading to his team scoring

Are you a system coach? Bedard’s playing within the system; hell, he’s driving its success. Are you an emotional coach? Bedard’s playing like he cares (more on that later).

The other play that stood out came late in the second period. Bedard was given a clean hit and knocked down by Noah Ostlund in Buffalo’s zone. Bedard’s right back up, the play continues, and in less than 10 seconds the puck is back to Ostlund, who sends an outlet pass into the neutral zone.

Well, Bedard made sure to send a message, laying a hit on Ostlund right after the pass was made. Clean hit, Ostlund stayed up, the game continues. There was nothing in the play that was going to make a TikTok highlight reel. It was the fact that by this point the game was (I believe 5-2) for Buffalo and getting out of hand. Bedard had not given up on the play, had not given up on the game, and sent that message to Ostlund that if you’re coming for me, I’ll come right back for you. No stickwork, nothing cheap, simply hockey played the right way. Everyone knows that Bedard has the Matthews 2.0 release, however a moment like that shows that Bedard has that dawg in him.

Connor Bedard can play a system, can produce, and has NHL-level grit. Let’s not galaxy brain this, we don’t need another Zamuner over Messier. 

Speaking of which, hockey people can sometimes drive me crazy. “He can only make the team if he has a spot in the top-6” is one axiom that you often hear about players. That’s fine when you’re talking about the likes of Denis Malgin and Nic Petan; it’s another thing entirely when you’re talking about a borderline generational talent. Bedard has been in high-pressure situations since The Brick at age 10 and the Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament.

That pressure, to lead your team to victory, in game after game, tournament after tournament, playoff after playoff – there are players who melt under such pressure and don’t pan out, and then there are the Sydney Crosby’s and Connor McDavid’s of the world who seem to come alive under pressure, who are paving the way for the Bedard’s and Macklin Celebrini’s of this newest generation. From being granted exceptional status as a 15-year-old to play in the WHL, where virtually every person who followed the Western League was watching to see if the kid could cut the mustard against 20-year-olds, to the tournaments – Hlinka-Gretzky, U-16, U-17, and of course the absolute show Bedard put on at the 2023 World Junior Championships.

Think of every one of those instances (and so many others), every player, every coach, every parent on his team (in some instances an entire country) that is hoping Bedard can lead the way to victory. On the other side, everyone on opposing teams who were directing hate at Bedard as a child, a teenager, and now an adult.

Diamonds are created under extreme circumstances, iron sharpens iron, the people who are strongest mentally are those forged in the fires of life. Can he play in the top-six, can he play good enough defensively, can he stand up to the physicality.

These are the questions you’re hearing and will continue to hear.

When you’re an undefeated MMA fighter, someone who retired as the UFC Heavyweight Champion, you know a little about what it takes to win. Bas Rutten is that man, and in the martial arts world Bas is famous for saying that fighting is 100% mental. Forget the fisticuffs, every moment in a hockey game is a fight. If you’re mentally engaged, odds are your mind will be in the right place and so will your body.

Bedard, the star of virtually every hockey moment of the first 18 years of his life, do you not think he played road and pond hockey pretending to be on Team Canada, dreamt at night of playing in the Olympics? Those dreams are mental preparation, and every constant pressure moment he grew up with was preparation for the time he gets the honour of putting on that Canadian jersey.

There are enough top-six forwards on Canada to be able to move Bedard up and down the lineup as needed (as they did with Marner at Four Nations). The reality is, Bedard has surpassed Marner, surpassed Stone, and on merit alone should be in Team Canada’s top-six forwards to start the tournament. Bedard on the right side with either McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon – my goodness the speed and offensive minds on the ice together, the possibilities are endless.

Let’s not overthink this, Bedard’s time to put on that Team Canada jersey... is now.