C Connor Bedard (2023, 1st, CHI) Part 6

[Frank Drebin]

@Frank Drebin You don’t think there is any that Bedard becomes a perennial top 5 player in the world?

I never argued that point. I don't know, and I don't care too speculate.

What I am saying, is that it's not unreasonable to believe that he won't be a sustained top 5 player in the world.

However unlikely it may seem to you and I, stranger things have happened and nothing is guaranteed.

 

[Fraser28]

I know what ceiling means. You are getting upset that some folks don't see bedard as a perennial top 5 player in the world.

They don't see his ceiling as that high.

Don’t get mad at me for pointing out your flawed logic. As you’ll see by the likes in my other post, I wasn’t the only one who noticed you not seeming to understand what I was saying.

And honestly based on your response here again, I’m still not sure you understand what I pointed out in my last post.

 

[Mathieukferland]

He’s also not a “really good skater” but thats an argument for another day.

Considering he was 105 seconds into a shift and beat the “best skating defence prospect in the world” despite Hughes having a 10 foot head start, I would say his skating, even his straight away speed, is just nothing to worry about in terms of it holding him back

 

[hamzarocks]

The expecations for bedard are super high

But he has met or exceeded high expectations consistently

Dismantled WJCs
Had an amazing reg season
Had an unbelievable round 1 in the WHL

I've got him finishing top 5 in both goals and points and a top 5 hart finish next year.

I haven't seen a player with a complete and dangerous shooting package as bedard.

He's ahead of Matthews/OV/Lemieux etc from the games and highlights I've seen so far.

Really hoping he destroys the league next year

My prediction for his ELC

Year 1: 56 goals + 59 Assisrs
Year 2: 61 goals + 67 assists (takes all 4 major awards and battles for best in the world title from 97)
Year 3: 55 goals and 65 assists - runner up to 97

He should be clear cut best player in the league by year 4

 

[ponder]

The expecations for bedard are super high

But he has met or exceeded high expectations consistently

Dismantled WJCs
Had an amazing reg season
Had an unbelievable round 1 in the WHL

I've got him finishing top 5 in both goals and points and a top 5 hart finish next year.

I haven't seen a player with a complete and dangerous shooting package as bedard.

He's ahead of Matthews/OV/Lemieux etc from the games and highlights I've seen so far.

Really hoping he destroys the league next year

My prediction for his ELC

Year 1: 56 goals + 59 Assisrs
Year 2: 61 goals + 67 assists (takes all 4 major awards and battles for best in the world title from 97)
Year 3: 55 goals and 65 assists - runner up to 97

He should be clear cut best player in the league by year 4

Re:

I've got him finishing top 5 in both goals and points and a top 5 hart finish next year.

Bedard is truly amazing, so I won’t say this is impossible, but it’s EXTREMELY unlikely. How many players have ever done this as rookies? Gretzky is the only one that comes to mind for me (won the Hart, tied-1st in point scoring, tied 5th in goal scoring), assuming we don’t count his WHA year, and consider the year the Oilers joined the NHL as his rookie season.

Crosby and Lemieux weren’t even close. Ovie was very close (was there on goals and assists, just missed the Hart voting, finishing 6th), but that was his D+2 season, not D+1, and an extra year of development does mean a fair bit at that age.

I believe you’re expecting him to do something that nobody but Gretzky has done. Or maybe there’s a player or two I’m not thinking of, but it’s exceedingly rare, for sure.

 

[bigdog16]

View attachment 727910
Considering he was 105 seconds into a shift and beat the “best skating defence prospect in the world” despite Hughes having a 10 foot head start, I would say his skating, even his straight away speed, is just nothing to worry about in terms of it holding him back

Uhhhhh he didnt beat him. He stops at the end because he knows he wont be able to beat him. This might be the worst example you could have possibly shown if you were trying to make an argument aboit his explosiveness

 

[Chelios]

Uhhhhh he didnt beat him. He stops at the end because he knows he wont be able to beat him. This might be the worst example you could have possibly shown if you were trying to make an argument aboit his explosiveness

While he didn't beat him, he did, at the very least, keep pace with a prospect widely considered to be one of the best skating prospects in the world. It absolutely shows his explosiveness.

 

[bigdog16]

While he didn't beat him, he did, at the very least, keep pace with a prospect widely considered to be one of the best skating prospects in the world. It absolutely shows his explosiveness.

You do understand that Hughes travelled a further distance there and caught Bedard right? If anything this is the perfect example of his lack of explosiveness. People on crazy pills here

 

[Chelios]

You do understand that Hughes travelled a further distance there and caught Bedard right? If anything this is the perfect example of his lack of explosiveness. People on crazy pills here

Which is why I specifically said "keep pace" despite it looking on the video that he made up 10 feet.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Don’t get mad at me for pointing out your flawed logic. As you’ll see by the likes in my other post, I wasn’t the only one who noticed you not seeming to understand what I was saying.

And honestly based on your response here again, I’m still not sure you understand what I pointed out in my last post.

Sorry I didn't see the likes. They usually highlight the quality of a post, lol

 

[Mrfenn92]

The expecations for bedard are super high

But he has met or exceeded high expectations consistently

Dismantled WJCs
Had an amazing reg season
Had an unbelievable round 1 in the WHL

I've got him finishing top 5 in both goals and points and a top 5 hart finish next year.

I haven't seen a player with a complete and dangerous shooting package as bedard.

He's ahead of Matthews/OV/Lemieux etc from the games and highlights I've seen so far.

Really hoping he destroys the league next year

My prediction for his ELC

Year 1: 56 goals + 59 Assisrs
Year 2: 61 goals + 67 assists (takes all 4 major awards and battles for best in the world title from 97)
Year 3: 55 goals and 65 assists - runner up to 97

He should be clear cut best player in the league by year 4

Yeah not sure about those expectations

 

[TLEH]

Bad skater, kinda sucks, might not reach 50 points.

 

[wetcoast]

You do understand that Hughes travelled a further distance there and caught Bedard right? If anything this is the perfect example of his lack of explosiveness. People on crazy pills here

I think you are missing the point about bedard's skating.

Your assertion that his skating is any sort of issue is pure bunk unless you have the same feeling about 99% of all prospects.

The video doesn't show a guy with skating issues.

 

[McFlash97]

..

 

[bigdog16]

I think you are missing the point about bedard's skating.

Your assertion that his skating is any sort of issue is pure bunk unless you have the same feeling about 99% of all prospects.

The video doesn't show a guy with skating issues.

The video doesn’t show a guy with “really good” skating either. A really good skater wins that race and drives to the net.

His strengths as a skater don’t lie in his speed and explosiveness. Would have been better off showing a clip of him using his lower body strength and edgework in the corner to evade a defender or something. But what do i know

 

[Offtheboard412]

The expecations for bedard are super high

But he has met or exceeded high expectations consistently

Dismantled WJCs
Had an amazing reg season
Had an unbelievable round 1 in the WHL

I've got him finishing top 5 in both goals and points and a top 5 hart finish next year.

I haven't seen a player with a complete and dangerous shooting package as bedard.

He's ahead of Matthews/OV/Lemieux etc from the games and highlights I've seen so far.

Really hoping he destroys the league next year

My prediction for his ELC

Year 1: 56 goals + 59 Assisrs
Year 2: 61 goals + 67 assists (takes all 4 major awards and battles for best in the world title from 97)
Year 3: 55 goals and 65 assists - runner up to 97

He should be clear cut best player in the league by year 4

His wrist shot is the best I've ever seen, but he does not have much of a one timer from what I've seen. Ovechkin/Laine/Stamkos all had both. I think that he's going to need to develop that as well as other aspects of his game if he's ever going to be a 60 goal scorer.

 

[kyle44]

The video doesn’t show a guy with “really good” skating either. A really good skater wins that race and drives to the net.

His strengths as a skater don’t lie in his speed and explosiveness. Would have been better off showing a clip of him using his lower body strength and edgework in the corner to evade a defender or something. But what do i know

The "105 seconds into a shift" seems to keep getting lost on you.

 

[tfwnogf]

I don't know how he'll do in his rookie season. All I know is I'm going to watch as many Hawks games as I can to see him in action

 

[FDBluth]

If the Hawks are able to get any power plays with their current roster I'm guessing he's capable of 15-20 powerplay goals alone. That shot and deception is way too good to not start scoring goals in a half court offense right away.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

If the Hawks are able to get any power plays with their current roster I'm guessing he's capable of 15-20 powerplay goals alone. That shot and deception is way too good to not start scoring goals in a half court offense right away.

15-20 pp goals, as a 18 year old rookie... are you kidding me !?!

The best player in the world had 20 last season and finished 2nd in the NHL, Draisaitl scored 32.

Only 5 players in the entire NHL scored 20 pp goals. 11 got 15.

If he scores 10 pp goals, its huge.

 

[Nazzz]

There are people who look really ridiculous just because Bedard doesn't skate like Hughes (nobody skates like Luke Hughes). Sorry for you guys

 

[Chelios]

The video doesn’t show a guy with “really good” skating either. A really good skater wins that race and drives to the net.

His strengths as a skater don’t lie in his speed and explosiveness. Would have been better off showing a clip of him using his lower body strength and edgework in the corner to evade a defender or something. But what do i know

Ah, I see. So your definition of a really good skater is limited to “someone who can beat one of the best skating prospects on the world the length of the ice at the end of a 105s shift”. My bad, now I see where the disconnect is.

I guess my definition of a really good skater is just a little different than yours.

 

[FDBluth]

15-20 pp goals, as a 18 year old rookie... are you kidding me !?!

The best player in the world had 20 last season and finished 2nd in the NHL, Draisaitl scored 32.

Only 5 players in the entire NHL scored 20 pp goals. 11 got 15.

If he scores 10 pp goals, its huge.

Nah I ain't kidding my man

 

[crazyhawk]

The video doesn’t show a guy with “really good” skating either. A really good skater wins that race and drives to the net.

His strengths as a skater don’t lie in his speed and explosiveness. Would have been better off showing a clip of him using his lower body strength and edgework in the corner to evade a defender or something. But what do i know

I think you should change your name to sillydog99 cause you know ... the great one.

 

[Video Nasty]

He may be the best Jr player in the last 20 years, and I think will be a super star ONE day. But playing first line minutes will hurt him, not help him next year. The kid is going to see top pairing NHL defence man and the best centres in the league every shift of every game. He won't see any soft matchups. For eg going up against Mackinnon and Rantanen and Makar and Toews, every shift for a full game is going to be real eye opening for him.

For me, 60 points is about the median, he may score a bit more or a bit less but the O/U should be 60.

The best at their craft don’t get to where they are (and stay there) by shying away from challenges. There’s nothing I’ve seen in his game or demeanor that points to him craving soft matchups 24/7 or being surprised that the pros are tougher than the minors.

He’ll be fine and will likely be a top 5 player by the end of his first season. We’ve seen lesser talents in lower scoring eras like Jeff Skinner come out and get over 60 points. Expecting Bedard to play 80+ games and get below 70 points is unreasonable.