Will the 16-year-old sensation be the next Connor McDavid? The comparisons have been there for years, and Connor Bedard is just getting started.
The stud from North Vancouver, Canada has been sensational since entering the WHL in 2020-21 at just 15 years old. He was drafted 1st overall by the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
He is the only player to be granted special status by the WHL, allowing him to enter the league at 15. This was after he scored 43 goals and 84 points in U-18 prep school action in Western Canada.
He then won gold and was named to the U-18 world championship All-Star team with 14 points in 7 games in the same year he led the WHL in rookie scoring with 28 points in 15 games for Regina.
Before the tournament got cancelled earlier today, Connor Bedard dominated the World Juniors tournament, and showed the world why he is the NHL's next generational talent.
During an 11-2 blowout victory for Canada over Austria last night, Bedard made history as the youngest player to score 4-goals in the tournaments long-lived history.
You can watch his nifty hat-trick goal down below.
Bedard joined Mario Lemieux (1983), Simon Gagne (1999), Brayden Schenn (2010), Taylor Raddysh (2016) and Maxime Comtois (2018) in the Canadian junior men's record books for the most goals scored in a single game.
Bedard was the seventh 16-year-old named to the National men's junior team in 45-years.
Connor McDavid also played in the World Juniors at 16-years-old in 2014.
No other 16-year-old produced four goals in a game. however, Gretzky scored a hat-trick in 1977 against Czechoslovakia.
"It's obviously pretty cool to hear your name with that guy," Bedard said about joining Gretzky in Canada's history books -- becoming the youngest Canadian to net a hat-trick by six months.
Bedard will officially enter the NHL draft in 2023, where he is expected to get selected first overall.
