All eyes on North Vancouver’s Connor Bedard as Canada faces U.S. in WJC semi-finals

A bitter old rivalry will be front and centre Wednesday when Team Canada takes on Team USA at the World Junior Championship, but there’s a bigger storyline playing out in this tournament. We’re talking about Connor Bedard, who’s broken several records while helping carry Team Canada on his back.

Sat Shah, host at our sister station Sportsnet 650, says the hype around Bedard is very real.

“The way he’s playing right now, it wouldn’t surprise me if he is the second coming of Sidney Crosby, and considering he’s a local boy from the Lower Mainland, maybe he is the better player. We’ll all root for him to be the best player since Crosby perhaps, but what [Bedard] is doing is absolutely sensational.”

Shah says it’s been a treat for Canadians across the country to watch the extraordinary 17-year-old but especially for Vancouver Canucks fans, as Bedard is from North Vancouver and grew up a fan of the team.

“Canucks fans here are not only enjoying it because he’s doing it for Team Canada but also with the hope of maybe, just maybe, if the Canucks are bad enough this season — do they get the lottery luck to get the local homeboy talent who could be the next Sidney Crosby or perhaps, even greater.”

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If, and that’s a big if, the Canucks get him in this summer’s draft, Shah thinks it would be huge for the organization.

“And that includes how they stole Pavel Bure in the later rounds and had to go through the courts to keep him, but the Canucks have never been fortunate enough to actually have the first overall pick. They traded for the first overall pick briefly in 1999 but traded the pick away to be able to select second and third overall where they took Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

“That moment with Henrik and Daniel might be tough to beat because of all the moves that went into it, but if you’re able to find that local homeboy talent, who could be one of the greatest players to ever play the game if he lives up to his potential, it would probably be the biggest draft moment in Canucks history,” he said.

Despite how well the presumptive top pick at the 2023 NHL Draft has been playing, Shah says it’s possible the teen could get to the NHL and falter.

“We’ve seen that in the past where players come up and don’t quite live up to the potential and Connor Bedard is supposed to be a centreman, it’s a bit different, but Alexis Lafrenière was also a first overall pick by the New York Rangers a few years ago and he’s really struggled recently and was a healthy scratch.

“So, it’s not always this easy, clear ascension for these young players. I’d say there is a chance he could obviously not be the player that people expect him to be but given the body of work so far, that seems to be somewhat unlikely.”

Shah says on a scale of one to 10, he’s at a 10 with how impressive his play has been.

“He’s, by far, the best player at the tournament. He’s breaking records. He’s doing this against players who are older than him, players who’ve been drafted already and have played NHL games and he’s head-and-shoulders the clear top talent at this tournament. And when you do that at this age… look at players who’ve done it in the past, guys like Peter Forsberg, Eric Lindros, so on and so forth, you’re talking about Hall of Fame calibre players.”

During Monday’s game against Slovakia, Bedard set five records and also scored the overtime winner to send Canada to the semis.

Puck drop is at 3:30 p.m. PT.

You can hear Sat Shah Monday-Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sportsnet650’s Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and alongside Bik Nizzar for the Canucks post-game show.