Has Connor Bedard quietly became underrated ?

[Crow]

I heard "generational".

Yeah me too. That’s also kind of implied by best prospect since 2015. Most people were not saying best prospect since lindros, which is what that person implied.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

* carrying one of the most unsound rosters in the league down the middle. As a young 19 year old.


There was no 100 point players before the lockout and 8 the year after the lockout. Ovi and Crosby dined out on the new obstruction rules right after the lockout.

The scoring environment is the exact same this season as it was in 05-06, 6.16 gpg

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

* carrying one of the most unsound rosters in the league down the middle. As a young 19 year old.

He's not a center right now...

 

[StreetHawk]

If he could have a Pat Kane type of career, that would be a huge success.

That is where I always saw him tracking.

Goal scoring C coming out of the CHL, so kind of more Stamkos type player, but a couple of inches shorter.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

He’s quietly had a downfall and is silently busting

 

[ManofSteel55]

Who?

Just kidding. Chicago is failing him by not having enough talent around him.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I don't think anybody ever expected him to be a Crosby or McDavid. That said I can't imagine his SH% remains where it is.

Seriously? That was a very common argument before his rookie year.

 

[PassingBy]

There was no 100 point players before the lockout and 8 the year after the lockout. Ovi and Crosby dined out on the new obstruction rules right after the lockout.

Unlike Bedard, who is now playing in a well known historic dead puck era?
However it doesn't matter as we are comparing Ovi's results to the results of other guys on his team, who were playing under the same rules.

As for Ovi being 20, not 19 - he arrived from another country, didn't speak the language, trained all his life and played before coming to NHL on bigger rinks and different rules. And still from the get go was head and shoulders above all his teammates.

 

[Dicky113]

When I saw him play last year I was shocked by how small he was. He looked like a child skating around with men.
He doesn’t have the size, speed or strength to be on the Crosby/McDavid/Ovechkin level. His upside is Patrick Kane; his downside is Matt Barzal

 

[ClydeLee]

Seriously? That was a very common argument before his rookie year.

The common argument that seemed most real talent evaluators had is he is the best since McDavid, but by no means should you think he's on the level of McDavid/Crosby because he doesn't have the speed or size to be that level.

Yes people said otherwise... some here, not people I would say are good at evaluating the talent.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

The common argument that seemed most real talent evaluators had is he is the best since McDavid, but by no means should you think he's on the level of McDavid/Crosby because he doesn't have the speed or size to be that level.

Yes people said otherwise... some here, not people I would say are good at evaluating the talent.

No disagreement there.

 

[Regal]

The common argument that seemed most real talent evaluators had is he is the best since McDavid, but by no means should you think he's on the level of McDavid/Crosby because he doesn't have the speed or size to be that level.

Yes people said otherwise... some here, not people I would say are good at evaluating the talent.

I think the effect of nationalism tends to be overblown but I also wonder if some media went overboard on the “generational” tag because there was a bit of a lull in Canadian talent since McDavid while USA hockey had been booming.

 

[StreetHawk]

When I saw him play last year I was shocked by how small he was. He looked like a child skating around with men.
He doesn’t have the size, speed or strength to be on the Crosby/McDavid/Ovechkin level. His upside is Patrick Kane; his downside is Matt Barzal

He measured under 5'10 at the combine. I think officially at 5'9 and 3/4. He's well built for his size, but still, he's sub 5'10 unless he grew over the past year.

 

[Frank Drebin]

There may be something to the nationalism aspect but bedards chl draft year stats were pretty generational

 

[Bombshell11]

Im gonna make a "bold" prediction and say that Bedard wont be scoring tonight. Not because im watching the game, ( im not) but because he simply doesn't score against teams that are good.

 

[Bombshell11]

except Bedard is also producing much better than any of those 3 were at his age

Have you seen his usage time?

Kind of dishonest to be comparing their production when you don't take into account the amount of Ice time and quality of ice time each got in their early years. That said Slaf was obvious he wasn't ready for the NHL.

 

[Stringer Bell]

He's young but I personally think he's awful in that car commercial.

 

[Panthaz89]

Because that’s what generational means. McDavid and Crosby were among the best in the world at 18

Since when was McDavid one of the best in the world at 18? He had a pretty slow start in his rookie season even though he caught up eventually.

 

[OverTheLine]

He's an offensive savant but might ultimately be limited by his physical tools. Hard to say, but I think he's so gifted offensively that he's going to end up sleepwalking into being a top 5 player anyways. If he was a couple inches taller he'd probably live up to the generational tag.

 

[Bombshell11]

He's an offensive savant but might ultimately be limited by his physical tools. Hard to say, but I think he's so gifted offensively that he's going to end up sleepwalking into being a top 5 player anyways. If he was a couple inches taller he'd probably live up to the generational tag.

Too fragile

 

[StreetHawk]

Yeah me too. That’s also kind of implied by best prospect since 2015. Most people were not saying best prospect since lindros, which is what that person implied.

Would agree. I recall Bedard and Sid did a segment on one of the Can sports shows (guess SN since they have the NHL rights) of reading what didn't exist or something when Sid was 18 or what some teen slang words were that Sid knew nothing about.

Pretty sure nothing like that was done with Cellibrini.

But, Bedard did get exceptional status, one of under 10 who have. So, get the hype for him. Wide range of success among them.
McDavid, category all his own.
Tavares, Ekblad great NHL careers. Not elite like other first overalls but great nonetheless.
Day - bust and really was not worthy of it.
Veleno - meh NHLer. Not sure if he was worthy or there was a risk of him not going to the Q
Wright - wait and see, so far hasn't hit
Bedard - seems like he'll get to the Tavares level at least.
Misa - Probably a couple other CHLers are going to be drafted ahead of him.
McKenna - people are already talking about him since last season as the #1 pick in 2026 and someone to tank for.

 

[rielledup]

When he hits his prime I think he's going to be a player who averages around 50 and 110, provided he has decent players to play with. A superstar and franchise player, but we'll below a true generational talent like McDavid.

 

[ViD]

I think even if he finishes this season 15 + 65, I would not call it a horrific season for him, just underwhelming

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

I think the effect of nationalism tends to be overblown but I also wonder if some media went overboard on the “generational” tag because there was a bit of a lull in Canadian talent since McDavid while USA hockey had been booming.

Bedard scored 90 goals and 186 pts in 71 games in his draft year.
Mcdavid scored 68 goals and 180 pts in 74 games in his draft year.
The hype was well deserved for Bedard at that time.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Bedard will no doubt be a fantastic player. However, wouldn't surprise me if his physical tools will limit his dominance. Kinda small and doesn't have that outrageous speed like McDavid or the strenght/speed combo of MacKinnon etc.