Has Connor Bedard quietly became underrated ?

WhiskeyYerTheDevils

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Also note that Bedard has a later birthday than most here. Auston Matthews, for example, was 10 months older than Connor when they each entered the league.

That feels about right. Not sure if he has Mackinnon level upside just because of physical limitations, but carving out a Patrick Kane type of career seems doable. They both have the clutch gene too.
 
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Brookbank

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Also note that Bedard has a later birthday than most here. Auston Matthews, for example, was 10 months older than Connor when they each entered the league.

Matthews was playing with Marner and Nylander. Not just him but everyone on the list had far better teammates.

If he's Kane with an elite shot then he'll be a better player than Kane. Which he is.
 

Luigi Lemieux

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Matthews was playing with Marner and Nylander. Not just him but everyone on the list had far better teammates.

If he's Kane with an elite shot then he'll be a better player than Kane. Which he is.
It was also a much lower scoring league at the time though. Matthews 69 points as a rookie placed him at 20th in league scoring. Bedard's 61 points had him at 87th. Actually everyone on the list joined in lower scoring years than last year.
 

WhiskeyYerTheDevils

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He has that level of playmaking? Seemed more in the Stamkos mold to me.
He's literally nothing like Stamkos. Stamkos was 6'1 athletic shooter who relied heavily on his one timer. Bedard is a smaller, slower cerebral offensive weapon like Kucherov. His one timer is pretty meh, but he has an elite wrist shot. His playmaking and deception are very Kucherov-esque.

Kanes the comp atm. Very happy with that. We know we can win with that. He now has to get some other stars around him.
Both guys are smallish, clutch offensive weapons. The only Hawks fans that will be disappointed in Bedard are the ones expecting McDavid. He's gonna be one of the best Blackhawks of all time.
 

Luigi Lemieux

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He's literally nothing like Stamkos. Stamkos was 6'1 athletic shooter who relied heavily on his one timer. Bedard is a smaller, slower cerebral offensive weapon like Kucherov. His one timer is pretty meh, but he has an elite wrist shot. His playmaking and deception are very Kucherov-esque.


Both guys are smallish, clutch offensive weapons. The only Hawks fans that will be disappointed in Bedard are the ones expecting McDavid. He's gonna be one of the best Blackhawks of all time.
Not sure i see Kucherov tbh. I do agree his playmaking is better than I expected, but more like Kane than Kuch. Kucherov is the best playmaker in the league, doubt we'll see 100 assists in a season from Bedard.
 

WhiskeyYerTheDevils

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Not sure i see Kucherov tbh. I do agree his playmaking is better than I expected, but more like Kane than Kuch. Kucherov is the best playmaker in the league, doubt we'll see 100 assists in a season from Bedard.
I was moreso comparing stylistically. Both guys are crazy good with open space. Kane did a bit more playmaking where he relied on his skating and hands to create space. Bedard and Kucherov are a bit less dynamic in their style.
 

Faceboner

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always said he looked like a stammer/kane hybrid just kinda surprised his goal scoring didn't take off but his passing ability is insane
 

FDBluth

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always said he looked like a stammer/kane hybrid just kinda surprised his goal scoring didn't take off but his passing ability is insane
His goalscoring will take off at some point. No one on the Hawks has the ability to get him the puck with any kind of time and space right now. So he's mostly been a playmaker by default because he's the one that has to create the plays for others. Creating your own shot with no other offensive help is almost impossible in the NHL. Ovechkin's kinda the only exception, but even Ovechkin has always had Backstrom.

Bedard's a better playmaker than I thought actually. Once he gets his shot and playmaking working together with a team that complements him, I think he could threaten 60 goals + 70 assists.
 

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