NHL insider cautions Connor Bedard to "keep his emotions in check" following misconduct penalty in loss against Sharks

On Thursday night, fans witnessed Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini face off for the first time at the NHL level.

San Jose (18-40-9) took down Chicago (20-37-9) 4-2 at the Shark Tank in a battle of the basement, but that's not what fans were talking about postgame.

With 10:50 left in the third period, Bedard was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty for abuse of officials. He was tripped by defenseman Mario Ferraro on the previous shift and thought there should have been a call on the play. He didn't seem to provide much of a reaction, but referee Chris Rooney felt he crossed the line with his words.

NHL insider Frank Servalli of Daily Faceoff spoke about the situation and called out Connor Bedard during the "Daily Faceoff Live" show.

"I think the big thing, the big takeaway, is that Connor Bedard needs to be more careful," Seravalli said. (7:50) "He needs to be smarter, and he needs to keep his emotions in check better. This is not the first time he's been captured yapping. And if you're trying to get more calls, constantly chirping isn't necessarily going to be the way to do it.

So you know, in that moment, 10 minutes and 50 seconds left in a one goal game against the team that's right next to you in the standings, in the lottery Chase. Why? Like be smarter and you're going head to head too against the guy that was picked against pick number one overall the year after you. I'm sure there's a lot of extra emotion in there, but you've got to find a way to harness that better and, and show some growth at majority, because that part really stands out."

The second-year star finished pointless in his 16:53 ice time on the night. It was a disappointing way to cap off the first edition of the Bedard-Celebrini rivalry.

Connor Bedard has had a frustrating sophomore season

Connor Bedard is frustrated with losing and his lack of production in 2024-25.

He has had a disappointing season, having registered 52 points (17 goals, 35 assists) in 66 games thus far, a 0.11 drop in points-per-game from his rookie campaign. He's also sporting a poor -31 plus-minus rating, after a -44 in 68 games in 2023-24.

A major factor in his underperformance is that Chicago has little talent to help Bedard. However, he was hyped up similarly to generational players like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid and just hasn't risen anywhere close to those expectations.

The Blackhawks are back in action on Saturday in Bedard's hometown of Vancouver to take on the Canucks. The puck drops at 10 p.m. EST at Rogers Arena.