Connor Bedard was supposed to be the lipstick on the pig of the Blackhawks franchise, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way. 

During his sophomore year, the young player, aged 19, has faced a lot of challenges for not being able to handle the pressure of leading a struggling team as a teenager.

If Bedard does not battle hard enough, if Bedard does not stop in front of the net in the defensive zone, that is reflective of poor coaching. Once, maybe twice, that would be on the player. Commonplace, that would fall on the coaching staff and the hierarchy. 

We’ve been told that before Luke Richardson — a projected rising star as a coach before he got to Chicago — was fired on Dec. 5, with a record of 8-16-2 this year and 57-118-15 over two-plus years behind the bench, he was told by upper management to treat No. 98 with kid gloves.