Connor Bedard is -84 throughout two seasons…Worst in the NHL

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Well he's pretty good on D if you look at the plays. Also caused a turnover which led to a gwg tonight. I'm not sure what you're seeing but it might be his stats.

I look at the plays. He's really nowhere close to good. That doesn't mean he can't make good defensive plays.

 

[mphmiles]

I'd be less concerned about +/- for a young offensive talent, and more concerned about his ability to create chances, get to scoring areas, and play engaged hockey.

The latter is what has most viewers concerned. Teams have adjusted to his game, and he really hasn't adapted at all.

His 5v5 iHCDF/60 has been cut in half, from 3.05 to 1.53. That's a staggering fall off, especially considering the team around him has improved.

Some of the raw all situations numbers are really ugly as well.

Last season (68gp) vs this season (81gp)

He's creating a lot less chances for himself
206 vs 191 shots
69 vs 44 iHDCF
24.0 vs 19.3 ixG

He's drawing less penalties and taking more
25 vs 13 penalties drawn
14 vs 24 minor penalties taken
+11 vs -11 minor penalty differential

He's giving the puck away much more and taking it away much less
57 vs 90 giveaways
47 vs 25 takeaways
-10 vs -65 differential

And he's been much less physical:
54 vs 47 hits given
77 vs 58 hits taken

All these numbers point to a player who has been effectively kept to the perimeter and forced to settle for low probability passes/dekes. He just hasn't been able to penetrate the middle of the ice on a consistent basis, and seems more hesitant to engage physically.

He needs a big offseason in terms of physical development, but also needs to do some searching to figure out what he needs to do to successfully adapt his game.

To add to this:

He's hardly scoring from in tight whatsoever. If you compare him to someone like Draisaitl (Another guy with a reputation as being one of the best perimeter scorers in the league) you'll see that most of Draisaitl's damage is still coming from the slot.

It's really, really hard to be a high level goal scorer when you're generating almost all of your offense from lower danger parts of the ice. He's going to have to evolve and find ways to score that don't involve shooting from outside the dots.

 

[Praetorian Caps]

While playing on one of the worst teams in the league.

 

[Bombshell11]

While playing on one of the worst teams in the league.View attachment 1015019

its ridiculous the lenghts Hawks fans go to make Bedard look like he belongs in the conversation with the best players of the league

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

its ridiculous the lenghts Hawks fans go to make Bedard look like he belongs in the conversation with the best players in the league

Sure. But others are ripping on a 19 yo kid who plays on a horrible hockey team

 

[Goose]

I seem to recall almost everyone in the Canadian media labeling him generational.

Big old echo chamber.

I think it was more of a generational goal scorer hype than pure talent like McDavid or Crosby.

I personally never felt from the hype like he was the next McDavid.

McDavid’s hype was a whole other level.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

To add to this:

View attachment 1014919


He's hardly scoring from in tight whatsoever. If you compare him to someone like Draisaitl (Another guy with a reputation as being one of the best perimeter scorers in the league) you'll see that most of Draisaitl's damage is still coming from the slot.

It's really, really hard to be a high level goal scorer when you're generating almost all of your offense from lower danger parts of the ice. He's going to have to evolve and find ways to score that don't involve shooting from outside the dots.

Yep. This was something I highlighted while he was in junior when people were comparing him to Matthews. I thought a smart player like him would figure things out pretty quickly, but he's struggled to adapt more than I expected.

He needs to share the puck faster and crash the net / slot looking for garbage. It's really hard to get open high danger chances when you've already had the puck for 3+ seconds.

 

[Buffdog]

The issue with a young star coming onto a team still in full tank mode is that the only thing to play for is points, so they'll cheat defense - basically play the same way they did in junior - but when you do it in the NHL, the puck ends up in your net

I'm sure CHI coaching staff would love to see a 15% drop in production in favor of better two way play

 

[Ford Prefect]

Some will argue it’s an irrelevant stat, but damn..

That's only because Kirby Dach missed 105 games in the last two years. That's one record Kirby could have broken!