Connor Bedard gets 100% real about future despite another struggling season for Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks have once again struggled this season, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight year. But despite the team's difficulties, 19-year-old phenom Connor Bedard remains optimistic about the future.

Speaking after the Blackhawks were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, Bedard said he was still "big time" encouraged about the team's direction.

"You're seeing guys come up and make a difference," Bedard said (per NHL.com). I"I know what I'm trying to do right now is not be so focused on results and just know we're young, we're trying to get better and just have fun."

Bedard noted the Blackhawks have a great group of young, talented players. And with about three weeks left in the season, he said the focus should be on enjoying the game and playing their best hockey.

"Obviously you're trying to win every game,and you want to win, but we're going to try to play the best we can." he said.

Bedard leads Chicago in scoring this season with 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists) in 69 games. After winning the Calder Trophy last season, Connor Bedard acknowledged he's had some ups and downs in his sophomore campaign.

"Up to this point I feel I've had a couple little, like, 12-15 game stretches where if you look at points ... obviously points aren't everything, but as a guy who's supposed to produce, those stretches are what I need to get rid of," he said.

Bedard also pointed out that the rest of the season has been going pretty well and sees his room for improvement as a chance to keep getting better.

Connor Bedard shares thoughts on GM Kyle Davidson

Connor Bedard has built a good relationship with Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson. He values how easy it is to talk to him and appreciates his honesty and open communication.

"Yeah, we have a good relationship," Bedard said. "It's cool. He's a younger GM (36) and we're a younger team. We have a lot of guys coming in basically the same time as him...I think we're all trying to grow together and take those next steps, and having that relationship is important."

When asked about what the Blackhawks need to do to start taking bigger steps in their rebuild, Bedard emphasized the importance of individual growth.