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<b>A fascinating, inside look at one of the most highly anticipated rookie seasons in NHL history</b><br /><br />When the Chicago Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, it was the culmination of months&mdash;if not years&mdash;of unrestrained hype. For the Original Six franchise, nearly a decade removed from a dynastic run of Stanley Cup successes, Bedard represented nothing less than the foundation for future glory.<br /><br />The 17-year-old centre from North Vancouver had long been projected as a generational talent, tearing up the junior-level WHL and garnering comparisons to Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. Now, it was time to compete head-to-head with those superstars and step into the lofty prophecies others had written for him.<br /><br />Through extensive reporting in Chicago and beyond, Tab Bamford chronicles one of the most highly anticipated rookie seasons in modern hockey, following Bedard&#39;s Calder Trophy campaign on the ice and the pressurized environment that lingered off it. Encompassing exalted expectations, untimely injuries, countless highlight-reel goals, and the fevered, omnipresent media landscape, Bedard&#39;s inaugural season provides a thrilling and expansive portrait of today&#39;s NHL.