Pats hopeful Bedard can speed up the rebuild
WHL team sees big future for 15-year-old star
• The arrival of Connor Bedard creates a juggling act for the Regina Pats.
General manager John Paddock has a lot of balls in the air after using the No. 1 pick in last week’s bantam draft to select the first- ever WHL player to receive exceptional-player status.
Since Bedard is eligible to play in the league at age 15, Paddock has to strike a balance between the present and future while trying to surround Bedard with complementary talent.
“I think about it a lot,” Paddock conceded. “I don’t know if you’d say there’s only so much you can do ( in the short term) because that doesn’t do justice to him or the process.”
It’s not an easy one for the Pats, who are entering a critical phase of their massive rebuild after playing host to the 2018 Memorial Cup.
The first wave of young prospects from last year’s draft is set to begin to filter into the lineup this fall. Bedard is a major boon to the rebuilding process, but he also expedites it because the Pats can’t afford to waste any of their limited time with a generational talent.
Bedard is already projected to be a top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. That creates the possibility of him playing just three seasons in Regina before moving on at age 18.
The Pats aren’t positioned to go all- in this season, but Paddock does want to take a run at the playoffs.
His first move in that regard came right after Bedard was selected in the bantam draft. After using a secondround pick on highly touted forward Matthew Wood, Paddock traded another second- rounder ( along with a fourth- rounder in 2022) to acquire 20- year- old goaltender Roddy Ross from the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The addition of a proven starter should be a godsend to head coach Dave Struch as he guides a young team through troubled waters.
“Dave has done a great job of getting the team to compete and work ( hard), but we have to take another step now,” Paddock said. “We took one last year after a bad start. You could see the players improve after Christmastime, but there has to be another step taken. ”
Ross is only a short- term solution for the Pats, who are building around younger players. Bedard is the headliner but Regina still needs to ensure he has the right supporting cast.
“I’m not in any big hurry to do something drastic right now,” Paddock said. “I want to see how our guys have taken a step from last year. But for sure we need to enhance the team each year, which in turn will help Connor, which in turn helps us.”
Then everyone wins.