Has Connor Bedard quietly became underrated ?

[Senor Catface]

Some great players took a bit. Mackinnon, Lafleur, Yzerman… they were good but not great.

Yeah, I think Bedard will be a great player, I was just curious if any stuck out.

 

[Fatass]

Did Bedard just get dominated by Zegras?

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Did Bedard just get dominated by Zegras?

Bedard played a great game with 2 beautiful primary apples.

Nice to see him get a pair of assists, tonight.

He's at 0.79 PPG on a horrid team with no line mates at the age of 19. If this is as bad as it gets, consider ourselves lucky. No, he is NOT Sid or McDavid but he's one heck of a young hockey player.

P.S. It was nice to see him smile - haven't seen THAT in a while.

Love to see those moments when young players toss the monkey off their back. A lot of the attention has been on his goal scoring ability because of his ridiculous release, but he is such an underrated passer.

He's really the perfect playmaking winger at this point. He commands attention from beyond the circles because of his release, which opens up everyone else. I'd like to continue seeing him be a bit more selective with his shot, especially from the outside, and instead try to hold onto pucks before distributing to an open teammate like he did for Dickinson's first goal.

I think keeping on the wing until he's ~21-23 could be the best thing for him. As a center, he's probably barely a top 30 overall center. But he's already a top 15-20 winger IMO, despite there being twice as many wingers in the league.

Kucherov
Kaprizov
Panarin
Pastrnak
Rantanen
Tkachuk
Marner
Connor
Nylander
Bratt

He's right in the mix alongside guys like
Ovechkin
Forsberg
Reinhart
Stone
Bedard
Michkov
Robertson
Necas
Keller
Guentzel
Tkachuk
Boldy
Svechnikov

You could argue he's better than a few of those guys already. I could definitely see him jumping into the top 10 by season's end, and maybe breaking into the top 5 before his 21st birthday.

 

[MuckOG]

IMO, a truly "generational" player would at least be among the top 60 scorers at this point in their second season no matter how bad their teammates are.

 

[LuGBuG]

Did Bedard just get dominated by Zegras?

he doesn’t need any more hate please.

 

[Dolemite]

Bedard is the real deal. The problem is that the Blackhawks are a dumpster fire of zero talent/ depth. Theres no other good center on the team right now that can take the focus off of him (see previous sentence for the reason why).

When the Blackhawks actually get talent around him then he should start showing signs of his brilliance.

 

[PainForShane]

Has their been a generational player that didn't excel, at least offensively, in their second season?

Gordie, Jagr.

If you consider other sports there are TONS of examples, Tom Brady's probably the best one of a generational player who improved unexpectedly dramatically. Jordan also didn't start winning scoring titles until his 3rd year in the league (heavily injured year 2) at age 23. Djokovic's first grand slam didn't come until he was 21, his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at age 24 which is when he started dominating. Etc etc.

And yes, I honestly do think you have to consider other sports because otherwise the sample size is too small. But even if you don't, you still have Gordie and Jagr who are both among the very best ever, and if you expand the tag a bit then plenty of guys like Datsyuk, Joe Thornton, MacKinnon etc, not to mention defensemen if you want to go there.

Anyway the overall idea that players can improve in a non-linear fashion (compared to both themselves as well as other players) seems pretty straightforward, a bit surprised ppl seem so intent / invested in trying to pretend this sort of improvement doesn't exist

 

[MuckOG]

Gordie, Jagr.

If you consider other sports there are TONS of examples, Tom Brady's probably the best one of a generational player who improved unexpectedly dramatically. Jordan also didn't start winning scoring titles until his 3rd year in the league (heavily injured year 2) at age 23. Djokovic's first grand slam didn't come until he was 21, his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at age 24 which is when he started dominating. Etc etc.

And yes, I honestly do think you have to consider other sports because otherwise the sample size is too small. But even if you don't, you still have Gordie and Jagr who are both among the very best ever, and if you expand the tag a bit then plenty of guys like Datsyuk, Joe Thornton, MacKinnon etc, not to mention defensemen if you want to go there.

Anyway the overall idea that players can improve in a non-linear fashion (compared to both themselves as well as other players) seems pretty straightforward, a bit surprised ppl seem so intent / invested in trying to pretend this sort of improvement doesn't exist

Jagr was a PPG during his 2nd regular season and had a great playoff run. Time has not run out on Bedard, but he needs to really pick it up if he wants to be considered the next Ovi/Crosby/McDavid.

 

[PainForShane]

Jagr was a PPG during his 2nd regular season and had a monster playoff run. Time has not run out on Bedard, but he needs to really pick it up if he wants to be considered the next Ovi/Crosby/McDavid.

And Bedard was pretty close to a PPG during his rookie year on a much worse team.

Also, based on the second bolded above I assume you don't believe Gordie Howe was generational or at least a tier below Ovi/Crosby/McDavid. Which is totally fine

 

[MuckOG]

And Bedard was pretty close to a PPG during his rookie year.

Also, I assume based on your sentence that you don't believe Gordie Howe was generational or the same tier as Ovi/Crosby/McDavid. Which is totally fine

Gordie Howe is a legend...but he played in a far-gone era of the NHL. It's really hard to compare players and their stats from 80 years ago to today. Even still, he was a top 20 scorer in his 2nd season.

And let me reiterate before someone jumps all over me. I think Bedard will be just fine. He will be considered one of the great players of his era, but I don't see him being the best player in the NHL for an extended period.

 

[Mulletman]

Bedard better step up his game. Lost 100 bucks last night when he failed to put up 3 points against the Ducks...

 

[Peasy]

Bedard better step up his game. Lost 100 bucks last night when he failed to put up 3 points against the Ducks...

Think you should dm him and ask for a refund.

 

[PainForShane]

Gordie Howe is a legend...but he played in a far-gone era of the NHL. It's really hard to compare players and their stats from 80 years ago to today. Even still, he was a top 20 scorer in his 2nd season.

Not really comparing his stats, just saying Howe took quite a few years to get going offensively compared to his peers (both his peers at the time and historical peers he ended up being compared to). And being a top 20 scorer (he finished #15 that year as a 19 year old) is impressive, but there were only 6 teams back then so barely the upper half of top six forwards league-wide.

Which speaks to your point about it being hard to compare players across eras, completely agree with that overall idea.

But the point still holds that Gordie took a while. If you want to use more current players, look at current guys like MacKinnon or Jack Hughes (or even Quinn Hughes), if Bedard at some improves at that even close to that same rate he'll be running away with scoring titles whenever that improvement occurs.

All that to say it's fairly common for some players to take longer than others to develop into something great. Trajectory isn't always linear, not even close. To me it seems like a better idea to at least wait until the kid can drink a beer before declaring anything about where his career may or may not end up 15 years from now

 

[MuckOG]

But the point still holds that Gordie took a while. If you want to use more current players, look at current guys like MacKinnon or Jack Hughes (or even Quinn Hughes), if Bedard at some improves at that even close to that same rate he'll be running away with scoring titles whenever that improvement occurs.

All that to say it's fairly common for some players to take longer than others to develop into something great. Trajectory isn't always linear, not even close. To me it seems like a better idea to at least wait until the kid can drink a beer before declaring anything about where his career may or may not end up 15 years from now

I have no problem with saying that Bedard's career trajectory is more likely to follow someone like MacKinnon or Hughes. I've always maintained that Bedard is closer to a Kane/Kucherov type player than he is a Crosby/Ovi/McDavid type player. He might even win a scoring title or two. Only time will tell.

 

[Leonardo87]

Bedard seems to own the Ducks. 5 points out of his 15 total this season were against Anaheim.

I always dread having to face him. So much skill.

 

[PainForShane]

I have no problem with saying that Bedard's career trajectory is more likely to follow someone like MacKinnon or Hughes. I've always maintained that Bedard is closer to a Kane/Kucherov type player than he is a Crosby/Ovi/McDavid type player. He might even win a scoring title or two. Only time will tell.

If your main point is around 'more likely' re: career then sure, I don't necessarily disagree. If instead your main point is around, 'he must show improvement this year otherwise he can never enter the rarefied air of a true great' (like we all know Gordie Howe is) then I definitely disagree.

My point was around various players' improvements year to year (and their variability), rather than their overall career totals / accomplishments.

Put a different way, Bedard came in as the best prospect since McD, if his play improves at the same rate as any of those guys (of which there are many examples), he'll end up being something truly special, regardless of when that improvement takes place. So saying something like, "he must improve this year or else" just seems sudden and arbitrary, almost everyone slumps sometimes and the kid is still only 19 years old

 

[Soundwave]

Why did the Hawks just let Strome walk for nothing?

 

[PainForShane]

Why did the Hawks just let Strome walk for nothing?

Because Strome's career trajectory / development has been anything but linear

 

[Soundwave]

Because Strome's career trajectory / development has been anything but linear

He had 22 goals in only 69 games in his last year in Chicago, why would just let a young center like that walk for nothing?

Could sure use him now with Bedard.

 

[Be a Hab]

Jagr was a PPG during his 2nd regular season and had a great playoff run. Time has not run out on Bedard, but he needs to really pick it up if he wants to be considered the next Ovi/Crosby/McDavid.

Go look at the Pens 1991-92 roster. It's absolutely stacked.

 

[Crow]

Bedard seems to own the Ducks. 5 points out of his 15 total this season were against Anaheim.

I always dread having to face him. So much skill.

When his competition is a younger team with similar talent to the hawks he seems to play extremely well. Eventually he’ll have more talent around him and the experience to perform against better teams.

 

[ORRFForever]

Bedard played a great game with 2 beautiful primary apples.

Love to see those moments when young players toss the monkey off their back. A lot of the attention has been on his goal scoring ability because of his ridiculous release, but he is such an underrated passer.

He's really the perfect playmaking winger at this point. He commands attention from beyond the circles because of his release, which opens up everyone else. I'd like to continue seeing him be a bit more selective with his shot, especially from the outside, and instead try to hold onto pucks before distributing to an open teammate like he did for Dickinson's first goal.

I think keeping on the wing until he's ~21-23 could be the best thing for him. As a center, he's probably barely a top 30 overall center. But he's already a top 15-20 winger IMO, despite there being twice as many wingers in the league.

Kucherov
Kaprizov
Panarin
Pastrnak
Rantanen
Tkachuk
Marner
Connor
Nylander
Bratt

He's right in the mix alongside guys like
Ovechkin
Forsberg
Reinhart
Stone
Bedard
Michkov
Robertson
Necas
Keller
Guentzel
Tkachuk
Boldy
Svechnikov

You could argue he's better than a few of those guys already. I could definitely see him jumping into the top 10 by season's end, and maybe breaking into the top 5 before his 21st birthday.

I agree with you but who would be his Center?

**

The other night, they showed Bedard's pretty mom in the stands. She looks like she's aged 10 years since I'd seen her last. You could tell she's feeling the weight of him not excelling.

Again, it was nice to see him get not 1 but 2 points. He needed the confidence boost - and the bounce in his step.

 

[Bombshell11]

He's like a mid 1st rounder who needs development in some areas to his game to become elite. Nothing wrong with that.