Connor Bedard ‘feeling good’ after Blackhawks practice as return nears

Forward Connor Bedard returned to Blackhawks practice Tuesday as a partial participant wearing a non-contact jersey, taking the next step in his recovery.

‘‘I’m feeling good,’’ Bedard said. ‘‘Hopefully pretty soon I can get back out there.’’

Coach Jeff Blashill said Bedard won’t play Wednesday against the Blues — against whom he suffered an injury to his right shoulder Dec. 12 — but the Hawks will take things ‘‘day by day’’ beyond that.

That suggests it’s possible Bedard will return this weekend against the Capitals or Predators, although that’s certainly not guaranteed. After that, the Hawks begin another four-game homestand next Monday against the Oilers. Bedard should be back in action during that stretch at the latest.

Before practice, Bedard and forward Frank Nazar — who returned to the ice for the first time since suffering a broken jaw Dec. 20 — skated together. Then Nazar left, but Bedard stayed on for the start of official practice, taking part in what Blashill called the ‘‘flow-type drills’’ before exiting before the more physical drills.

Bedard began shooting pucks Friday and looked uninhibited doing so Tuesday, ripping a bunch off posts and crossbars with his usual power, accuracy and quick release.

‘‘I forgot how much I don’t like practicing against him; he’s a sick player,’’ defenseman Alex Vlasic said. ‘‘But, yeah, it’s great to see him out there. He definitely brings a little bit more energy and excitement.’’

Bedard said his first thought when he injured his shoulder on a last-second faceoff in St. Louis was that he just wanted to get his gear off as soon as possible. Then on the short flight back to Chicago, his perspective was to ‘‘expect the worst, hope for the best.’’

The outcome ended up falling somewhere between those extremes. He joked he wanted to play the next day against the Red Wings, but he has followed the advice of team doctors — perhaps more so than he did after he suffered a broken jaw in January 2024.

‘‘We have a lot of great people working with us,’’ Bedard said. ‘‘As a player, you just tell them you feel good and you’re ready to go, but obviously there’s importance in your health and everything. So I’m very lucky to have the people working with me that I do.’’

The Hawks went 1-6-1 in their first eight games without Bedard, but they since have adapted their style enough to earn three consecutive victories while he and Nazar push each other through their respective rehabs.

‘‘Not being able to contribute is the hardest thing in the world,’’ Bedard said. ‘‘But seeing how we’re playing and [how we] just keep getting better, that’s obviously exciting to watch.’’

Olympic disappointment

It was Bedard’s first news conference since his exclusion from Team Canada’s Olympic team. He said all the right things about that letdown.

‘‘There’s disappointment, for sure,’’ he said. ‘‘Everyone in Canada would want to be on that team. But there are so many great players. They have tough decisions to make, and you respect that.’’

Team Canada management let him know before the official announcement that he hadn’t been selected but that he is on the standby list for injury replacements, if needed.

‘‘The positive I’ve taken out of this is I get to look at my game and [think about], ‘Where can I improve?’ ’’ Bedard said. ‘‘When you don’t meet one of your goals, the only thing to do is look in the mirror and see where you can get better. That’s an exciting opportunity for me.

‘‘At the end of the day, the players pick the team [with] how you play. I felt I was playing well, but I want to make it where there’s no choice.’’