“There’s no real official date or anything, but obviously a good step today, getting to practice with the team and feel contact and be in battle drills, 5-on-5, stuff like that,” Bedard said. “I felt really good. I’ll talk to the doctors here soon and find a game.”
It wasn’t ruled out that the game could be against the Pittsburgh Penguins at United Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; CHSN, SN-PIT).
“I mean, I don’t want to say until I know more factual stuff from the (doctor’s) appointment,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said of the Tuesday possibility. “I don’t even know when (the appointment) is yet, so until I know for sure, there’s a little bit of fluidity there we have to deal with.”
Bedard had surgery on his left shoulder a few days after he was injured during an offseason training session in Vancouver on July 2. He began skating with the Blackhawks on Monday but wore a black non-contact jersey.
On Sunday, he was wearing red and participating in every drill.
“I was off the ice for two months (right after surgery), so it takes a couple weeks to get your hands and stuff back and trying to get your cardio back. That’s the biggest thing right away,” he said. “But feel pretty good. It’s nice to get some game-like reps today, going forward here to ramp that up. I feel really good. I feel pretty normal for the most part. It’s obviously on kind of everyone that knows (doctors) to let me play.
The 21-year-old also said he’ll be able to take face-offs right away. Bedard didn’t immediately take face-offs last season after he missed 12 games with a right shoulder injury sustained in a last-second face-off against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 10, 2025. He came back from that injury against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 9 but didn’t take face-offs in a game until Feb. 26 against the Nashville Predators. He went 8-for-16.
In line rushes on Sunday, Bedard was back in his usual No. 1 center spot, with left wing Roman Kantserov and right wing Patrick Kane.
“It was nice to get out there today and get some touches with him,” Bedard said of Kane. “Being there for his first game at home (against the Blues on Tuesday) and his first game with us in general, he’s obviously looked so good. I’m excited for that opportunity for sure.”
The No. 1 pick for the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard has 203 points (75 goals, 128 assists) in 219 games with them. He has led them in points in each of his first three NHL seasons, including last season when he had NHL career highs in points (75), goals (30) and assists (45).
He won the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the League’s top rookie, in 2023-24.
Bedard was named Blackhawks captain Sept. 15. Kane and fellow forward Tyler Bertuzzi were named alternates the same day. Bedard is the second youngest captain in Blackhawks history behind Jonathan Toews (20 years, 79 days), who served in that role from 2008-23.
The return of Bedard can’t help but boost the Blackhawks, who are off to a 1-5-0 start.
“(When) a very, very young team, especially at center and ‘D’ gets their top player back, that’s a big deal for any team,” Blashill said. “I think it’d be a big deal for the Colorado Avalanche if (center Nathan) MacKinnon was out, but it’s a bigger deal for us because he’s not as surrounded by the same veteran presence, potentially, that they have in some of those spots.
“We’re really young up the middle, really young on ‘D,’ so when you get a guy back even though he’s young, whatever, he’s got more experience and he’s an elite player in the League. So, there’s zero doubt with him in the lineup we’re a way better team. That’s a testament to him more than anything else. For me, he’s a top-flight player in the League.”
Bedard is itching to be out there as much as the Blackhawks want him back. Nevertheless, he knows he has to be careful. It’s his second shoulder injury in as many seasons. When he’s given the OK, however, he’ll be ready.
“Like I said, I feel normal. I feel like myself, shooting the puck, everything,” he said. “You want to play. I wanted to play Game 1 but obviously you want to be safe as well. (I’m) working with a lot of great people, coming in every day and grinding, trying to get it back as soon as possible. Once they feel like it’s in a good spot, then I’ll be back out there.”
