Cale Makar on Connor Bedard: 'His tools are amazing'

Cale Makar says it's going to be 'fun to watch' Connor Bedard in his rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Avalanche defenseman is training with the NHL's first overall pick at the 2023 BioSteel Camp.

Video Transcript

- Wanted to get your Connor Bedard impressions, man. What are your feelings about what you've seen from this kid? And also, any advice you may have imparted to this young athlete?

CALE MAKAR: Yeah, I mean, on the ice, he's a pretty incredible player. You can tell just, like, his stickhandling and his shot is so smooth. And it's going to be fun to watch in actual gameplay and stuff.

But no, I think he's got some good resources around him there in Chicago this year. And I'm excited to see what he does. But he's definitely got a lot of the-- all his tools are pretty amazing. It's fun to watch.

- I remember when you came into the league, and in a really pressure packed situation right out of the NCAA, in the playoffs, I'm wondering if you have had any opportunity to talk to Connor the last couple of days about his first season and what advice you might have for him.

CALE MAKAR: Yeah. No, I haven't-- I haven't talked to Bedard too much in terms of that. I think he just seems like a super dedicated guy, loves the game of hockey. And I mean, he's been the last guy on the ice both days at camp.

So you can tell that his commitment is just there. And I think he's going to push a team like Chicago just to get better and better. So he's an exciting player to watch. And I think for him, I mean, even myself, like, you can-- guys can give pointers and stuff like that, but you also want a little bit of independency in going through it with yourself and kind of seeing how you read and react different situations through your first year. So yeah.