Connor Bedard sure looks like the real deal.
The North Vancouver product continued his World Junior dominance on Thursday, capping off a give-and-go with Mason McTavish to open the scoring for Team Canada against Team Slovakia.
Bedard, 17, grew up after the heyday of the West Coast Express line (feel old yet?) but grew up a Canucks fan during the Sedins’ most dominant years.
The Regina Pats superstar says ex-Canucks forward Tyler Motte is one of his favourite players. You’re free to judge whether you think Bedard already possesses a more dangerous wrister than Motte … although Elite Prospects analyst Cam Robinson thinks Auston Matthews is the only player who surpasses the teenage phenom in that category.
Bedard set the tone for Team Canada in what ended up an 11–1 rout of the Slovaks. McTavish led the way with six points (four goals, two assists) for the Canadians, while undrafted forward Matej Kaslik scored Team Slovakia’s only goal.
Will Cuylle, Brennan Othmann, Olen Zellweger, Logan Stankoven, Joshua Roy, and Zack Ostapchuk also scored for Team Canada on Thursday. The Canadians are off to a 2–0 start at the 2022 World Juniors and will return to action against Team Czechia on August 13.

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