I think anyone looking at guys like McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, etc. for comparing to Bedard really need to look at the Hawks versus the teams that those players stepped into. I don't think Bedard will go PPG or even possibly match MacKinnon's first year as a rookie but it isn't for a lack of talent or ability, the team is just so bad, he gets the worst match-ups, and has to generate offensive chances almost on his own.
Looking at these lists, it is insane he has been able to do anything close to what these other prominent players have done.
[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]Penguins 2005-2006 - Crosby's First Season[/TD]
[TD]Oilers 2015-2016 - McDavid's First Season[/TD]
[TD]Avalanche 2013-2014 - MacKinnon's First Season[/TD]
[TD]Blackhawks 2023-2024 - Bedard's First Season[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Crosby[/TD]
[TD]McDavid[/TD]
[TD]MacKinnon[/TD]
[TD]Bedard[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Recchi[/TD]
[TD]Hall[/TD]
[TD]Duchene[/TD]
[TD]Kurashev[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Leclair[/TD]
[TD]Draisaitl[/TD]
[TD]Landeskog[/TD]
[TD]Dickinson[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Malone[/TD]
[TD]Eberle[/TD]
[TD]O'Reilly[/TD]
[TD]Foligno[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Armstrong[/TD]
[TD]Pouliot[/TD]
[TD]Stastny[/TD]
[TD]Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lemieux (limited games)[/TD]
[TD]Nugent-Hopkins[/TD]
[TD]E. Johnson[/TD]
[TD]Donato[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Palffy[/TD]
[TD]Yakupov[/TD]
[TD]Barrie[/TD]
[TD]T. Johnson[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gonchar[/TD]
[TD]Sekera[/TD]
[TD]Tanguay (limited games)[/TD]
[TD]Hall (limited games)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Whitney[/TD]
[TD]Nurse[/TD]
[TD]Sarich[/TD]
[TD]Korchinski[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]