Has Connor Bedard quietly became underrated ?

wetcoast

Registered User
Nov 20, 2018
24,741
11,605
Patrick Kane came to a team with 7 or so other top line/top pairing players. It’s a terrible comparison. Bedard’s start has been much more impressive to me. In Patrick’s rookie year the hawks scored 239 goals. They scored 179 last year. It’s likely Bedard would have scored 20 more points from my math there assuming everything is linear.
Kane is also a late birthday on the slit provided and pretty much every other player had better physical skills than Bedard, ie size.

That being said I think the term generational is getting thrown around too often and as the league gets better and better it's going to be harder to stand out, especially from a young age.
 

WhiskeyYerTheDevils

yer leadin me astray
Sponsor
Apr 27, 2005
35,300
33,897
Will be peak Paul Kariya in a couple of years and nothing wrong if that is what he stays.
Peak Paul Kariya was a top 5 offensive player in the world from 1995-96 thru to 1999-2000, so yeah, that's a great outcome.

Only Lemieux (1.94), Jagr (1.55), and Lindros (1.33) had a higher ppg during those 5 years. Kariya's 1.292 ppg put him a hair ahead of prime Selanne (1.289), Forsberg(1.27) , and Sakic (1.26). That's pretty good company. He doesn't have to be a McDavid or Crosby tier player to be an incredible player in his own right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KillerMillerTime

PainForShane

formerly surfshop
Dec 24, 2019
2,846
3,283
Peak Paul Kariya was a top 5 offensive player in the world from 1995-96 thru to 1999-2000, so yeah, that's a great outcome.

Only Lemieux (1.94), Jagr (1.55), and Lindros (1.33) had a higher ppg during those 5 years. Kariya's 1.292 ppg put him a hair ahead of prime Selanne (1.289), Forsberg(1.27) , and Sakic (1.26). That's pretty good company. He doesn't have to be a McDavid or Crosby tier player to be an incredible player in his own right.

Oh hey! I guess you remember Jagr.

I wonder how Jagr did in his rookie year? Methinks Bedard's rookie year was way more impressive.

Still too early to tell wrt Bedard's ceiling (either way). We'll see how he goes
 

WhiskeyYerTheDevils

yer leadin me astray
Sponsor
Apr 27, 2005
35,300
33,897
Oh hey! I guess you remember Jagr.

I wonder how Jagr did in his rookie year? Methinks Bedard's rookie year was way more impressive.

Still too early to tell wrt Bedard's ceiling (either way). We'll see how he goes
You just can't leave it alone, huh? I'm living rent free at this point.

Jagr had the opposite problem as Bedard. Pens had a stacked lineup and he was buried on the third line.
Not to mention he was essentially a skilled power forward, who still had a lot of filling out to do. There's a reason those bigger guys can take a bit longer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luigi Lemieux

NVious

Registered User
Dec 20, 2022
1,558
3,490
I find watching him play he's dealing with a lot more pressure. Smart move to not name him captain just yet.
He has the name, now he has to live up to it.

McDavid is speed running GOATness
McMichael surpassed McDavid easily with his own greatness (I call it Connorness)

Will it be Bedard's turn? Time will tell, but he has all the tools (being named Connor).
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad