Was thinking more along the lines of production upside. And I doubt he’s all that much faster than Kane. He’s clearly not McDavid level and I doubt anyone would call Kane slow, so how much faster could he be?
C Connor Bedard - Regina Pats, WHL (2023 Draft) Part 3
- Thread starter LeafChief
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Apotheosis
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Yeah, I am totally going to take those at face value when it has Draisatl ahead of McDavid and Kapanen LMAO
Are we talking about the same player? Bedard absolutely flies out there.
Well that's just raw data. Maybe McDavid or Kapanen didn't skate their fastest but Kane still skated at such a speed.
Based on what? McDavid is fast as f***, but when I see posts like this I genuinely feel his actual top speed is overrated by a lot of people.
There's definitely been faster players than McDavid, and I don't even think he has the highest top speed even today.
Yep. McDavid's main strength is agility(by far the best in the league) and explosiveness(among the top). Somehow he's considered the fastest skater, when he's never been that.
But, Bedard is not McDavid level as a skater, that's true.
canuck2010
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There isn't another star player in the league (McDavid level) that skates as fast as McDavid with or without the puck. I know that sounds funny but there may be others, a few who can straight line skate faster than McDavid but that is really irrelevant. I'm sure there are Dutch speeds skaters that can can faster but so what, they can't play hockey either. Bedard can wheel and is extremely quick but no one has the same quickness especially laterally as McDavid.
MacKinnon has very comparable first 3 steps to McDavid and is stronger (so once he gets those 3 steps he can hold off his lead easier once he has positioning). But among elite NHLers that's really the only comparable. McDavid has a higher top speed, is more agile, and has better hands.
Explosiveness is by far the most important aspect at the NHL level as its filled with short bursts and it establishes positioning.
I think Barzal is right there as well.
Lavar Ball
Neva Lost
Bedard's straight line top speed is definitely McDavid level, though you're correct as far as agility goes, McDavid is definitely superior there.
canuck2010
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Except that Barzal isn't close to the hockey player that McDavid is. Off topic do you have much interest in the summer U20?
Video Nasty
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Putting aside home team bias, which of the realistic NHL landing spots do you all most want to see him play for?
Hamilton Bulldogs
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Phoenix, Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia are probably the favorites
The NHL would go outta its way to rig this and make sure Bedard doesn't end up filling up Phoenix's 5000 person arena
hockey20000
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kid is suppose to be best prospect since mcdavid and crosby isnt he?
EichHart
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Sweetpotato
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Montreal or Arizona. Wouldn't wish Philadelphia on him as long as Fletcher and the old fools brigade are there.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
I think he's level with the pack of Matthews, Eichel, Laine, Hughes, Lafreniere, Dahlin, McKinnon, Wright, Michkov. You could rank him first, but you could also have him not first among that group.
I think stylistically he's like Jack Hughes in the overall profile of what he brings. Hughes is an inch taller and a better skater, while Bedard is a significantly better shooter. Aside from that, they are similar. There may not be a great comparison for Bedard, but thats probably the best comparison of what he profiles as.
Dominance
99-66-4-9-87/97
Come on, Bedard has shown far more by the same age, and the difference between his and Hughes’ skating is minuscule while there is a veritable gulf differentiating their shooting ability.
Your point stands, though. An argument can be made for Matthews, Eichel, Lafreniere, and Wright as D-1 prospects given their significant size advantages.
So according to your goofy graph Draisaitl is faster than McDavid?
He is faster than Kane. Nobody guaranteed he will be a better player but a lot of people think he has that potential.
I don’t see a big difference in skating ability between him and Hughes either.
It's not a graph, it's measured data from world championships. A table isn't a graph.
But sure, why not? I don't think McDavid's top speed is that great. Never have.
The point is that that was Kane's speed. And well, usually Kane doesn't skate all out at WHCs. He's quite fast.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
I'm talking about their objective standing. Hughes was talked up in the same tier as Matthews and Eichel. He wasn't viewed as some weak #1. We can all have our opinions on how good of a prospect he was and how good he is, but the guy was pretty clearly one of the more talked about non-McDavid prospects of the last 10 years. He was breaking USNTDP scoring records. I actually think in general people really do tend to forget how highly regarded some of these prospects were. It seems like every year there's a new kid who is talked up as the next great prospect.
Bedard will be a great player in the NHL. He's part of that pack of 5-10 players over the last 7-8 years that are clear 1OA caliber talents. The only guy thats generational is McDavid, and I don't think the case for Bedard or Michkov or anyone that recently is that good that they are on his level. As good as Bedard is, there are weaknesses in his game that keep him from being the level of prospect McDavid is. Same with Matthews when he was coming out, and he just won the Hart trophy, so not being McDavid caliber doesn't mean you can't be great. He's probably not going to be that level of player throughout his career where there's a gulf between him and everyone else in the sport for more a couple of years. Very unrealistic to expect that of anyone. There's a reason why a true generational player only comes around on average once every 10 years, and some generations have none.
