Taylor Hall knows what it's like to have the pressure of being a 1st overall pick on his shoulders. Thankfully for 2023 1st overall pick Connor Bedard, he has someone close by who can help him navigate the sometimes troublesome waters that come with playing in a hockey hot bed like Chicago.
Naturally, with a player of Bedard's skill set and hype, the media attention has been relentless in the early going. He has had scores of reporters cornering him for interviews before and after every game. As an 18-year-old, that can be very intimidating. Hall sees the pressure increasing by the day and while he knows it's part of the job, he wishes the media would just ease up on the kid.
Hall didn't necessarily want to speak for Bedard, but he knows that the young rookie would likely never say anything on his own. The one thing he wanted to convey to the media is that while it may seem like Bedard may be handling it just fine, there's a very good chance that he's very overwhelmed but simply not showing it.
Sometimes the media attention can be a lot. Hopefully, at some point, everyone realizes that Bedard is still just a kid and that hockey should be his priority. Yes, there will always be a large demand to speak with him, but he should be allowed to grow into that role, not thrust into it immediately.
