When Connor Bedard began the 2023 World Junior Championship, he had eight career goals in the competition. Fast forward three games, and now he is tied for the most goals by a Canadian player.
With his two goals during Canada’s 11-0 thumping of Austria on Thursday, Bedard tied Jordan Eberle with 14 goals in World Juniors play.
The Canadian sniper already is up to six goals and 14 points at the 2023 tournament. The 17-year-old phenom leads all skaters in both of those categories.
Connor Bedard has tied Jordan Eberle’s Canadian record for most goals at the #WorldJuniors with 14 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/l4czCNerec
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2022
The historic Bedard puck 👀#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/MmYh0nyWNo
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2022
With two more games guaranteed for Canada, the consensus top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft certainly has more than enough time to break the record. He has scored in each of Canada’s first three WJC games, including a hat trick against Germany.
MORE: Team Canada 2023 World Juniors roster, results
Here is where Bedard ranks on Canada’s World Juniors all-time goal list:
Most career goals by a Canadian at the World Juniors
Bedard has a chance to take sole possession of first place on Canada’s all-time World Juniors goal list. He tied Jordan Eberle for No. 1 with his two-goal performance against Austria.
He entered the 2023 tournament with eight goals. He has scored in each of Canada’s first three games in the competition.
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Jordan Eberle | 14 |
| Connor Bedard | 14 |
| Jeff Carter | 12 |
| John Tavares | 12 |
| Eric Lindros | 12 |
| Mike Cammalieri | 11 |
| Martin Gendron | 11 |
| John Anderson | 10 |
| Dale McCourt | 10 |
| Todd Harvey | 10 |
| Dylan Cozens | 10 |
Most career goals at the World Juniors
While Bedard is in the Canadian record book, he has a ways to go to get on the overall World Juniors all-time goal list.
Pavel Bure has the record with 27 during his three tournaments. Bure, Vladimir Ruzicka and Markus Naslund are the only players to record at least 20 goals in their World Junior careers.
MORE: Most points at a single World Juniors
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Pavel Bure | Soviet Union | 27 |
| Vladimir Ruzicka | Czechoslovakia | 25 |
| Markus Naslund | Sweden | 21 |
| Alexander Mogilny | Soviet Union | 19 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | Russia | 18 |
| Robert Reichel | Czechoslovakia | 18 |
| Niklas Sundstrom | Sweden | 18 |
| Petr Rosol | Czechoslovakia | 18 |
| Esa Tikkanen | Finland | 17 |
