MONTREAL — Analyzing the Blackhawks’ forward lines is often a fool’s errand, given how much lines can change in hockey in a matter of days. The analysis can become out-of-date almost immediately.
When it comes to Connor Bedard’s line, however, such analysis seems a little more worthwhile, considering how much it matters who the 18-year-old stud plays with every single day.
So it’s worth noting the Hawks moved Taylor Raddysh next to Bedard during practice Friday, slotting Raddysh into the first-line left-wing spot previously held by now-injured Taylor Hall.
Raddysh, Bedard and Ryan Donato will at least start Saturday’s game against the Canadiens together. Hawks coach Luke Richardson said he likes the fact all three of them are talented and eager shooters.
“Because [Bedard] can really shoot, but if [the Canadiens] overplay him on the shot, he can make plays, as we’ve seen,” Richardson added. “We have him surrounded well.”
Raddysh and Bedard did accrue a little experience playing together during one preseason game in Detroit, albeit without much success that night.
But it turns out Raddysh is also one of the teammates to whom Bedard has grown closest off the ice so far. They live in the same apartment building in downtown Chicago — along with Richardson — and Bedard briefly stayed with Raddysh this summer before moving himself in.
“He’s so mature,” Bedard said. “He’s just 25 years old, but how he carries himself, how he acts and how he has been with me [has been impressive].”
Raddysh brings a more physical element to the top line than Hall did. His net-front savviness and rebounding ability, combined with his above-average shot, helped him reach the 20-goal plateau last year — something he’s hoping to repeat this year, even if the odds might not be in his favor.
“[I’ll] let him shoot the puck and, when I get a chance, [I’ll] do the same thing,” Raddysh said. “[We can] feed off each other that way.
“He’s so smart, he can create some plays that you’ve just got to be ready for. [I need to] be ready to shoot at all moments or be ready to get him the puck at all moments. [I’ll] just read off the way he’s playing.”
Raddysh’s promotion meant Andreas Athanasiou was subsequently bumped up onto the second line next to Lukas Reichel and Tyler Johnson.
Blackhawks' lines in practice today have Raddysh on the first line:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 13, 2023
Raddysh-Bedard-Donato
TJohnson-Reichel-Athanasiou
Foligno-Dickinson-Perry
Katchouk-Guttman-RJohnson
Vlasic-Jones
Korchinski-Murphy
Tinordi-Kaiser
Reichel’s status as the Hawks’ other potential long-term forward cornerstone, as well as the offensive potential Bedard and Reichel showed during a brief cameo together late Wednesday night against the Bruins, prompted some fans to clamber for Reichel to get promoted full-time into Hall’s vacated first-line spot.
That is what happened on the top power-play unit; Reichel and Bedard are now together there (along with Donato, Corey Perry and Seth Jones). But the Hawks are committed to giving Reichel the necessary time to establish himself as an NHL-caliber center — and as Richardson noted Friday, there can’t be two centers on one line during five-on-five play.
“We just think this is more balanced for us right now,” Richardson said.
Meanwhile, Hall — just two days after suffering an upper-body injury against the Bruins — surprisingly hopped on the ice during practice Friday, skating and stick-handling on his own despite not participating in team drills.
Richardson had labeled Hall as “week-to-week” on Wednesday, but he revised that to “day-to-day” on Friday, noting Hall told him he’s a “miracle fast-healer.”
That’s an enormously welcome piece of news for the Hawks, and it exemplifies why analyzing lines can be so pointless: things can change quickly and dramatically in this league.
In all likelihood, Bedard will take a shift or two here and there with every single forward on the Hawks’ roster — and probably also with a few forwards not even on the roster yet— between now and the season finale April 18 in Los Angeles.
Sure, he’ll log far more minutes alongside upper-end players like Hall, Raddysh, Donato and Reichel than alongside grinders like Boris Katchouk, but even Katchouk-Bedard could easily be a combo at some point.
That frequent shuffling makes versatility a crucial skill for any NHL forward. Fortunately for the Hawks, Bedard seems to check the versatility box just as definitively as he checks every other important box.
“He’s already making adjustments on the fly,” Richardson said. “Sometimes it takes guys months, even years, to do that. That’s why he is at an elite level.”
Canada treasuring Bedard
Even though Bedard now plays for an American team — and grew up in the Vancouver suburbs, on the opposite side of Canada — it’s clear “Bedard fever” is running just as hot right now in Montreal and Toronto as it is in Chicago.
The pandemonium Bedard created by leading Canada to a gold medal in last year’s world junior championships hasn’t fully subsided.
He delighted a mob of Canadiens reporters Friday by mentioning his family’s old Saturday tradition of watching “Hockey Night in Canada” — which, this week, features this Hawks-Canadiens matchup.
Even in Montreal… pic.twitter.com/tKYsSZr5PF
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 12, 2023
And in at least one athletic apparel storefront on Rue Saint-Catherine — downtown Montreal’s busiest shopping street — a Bedard jersey hung alongside a Cole Caufield jersey Thursday.
Bedard continues to handle all the pressure and attention with remarkable calmness. It has probably helped him that his parents and sister have also traveled to all three cities so far on the five-game trip.
“I’m sure it’ll be awesome [to play at the Bell Centre],” he said Friday. “The rink is pretty electric with pretty passionate fans. But we’re really excited to get to our home opener [in Chicago].”
