"Nobody is afraid of Bedard"....Bruce Boudreau

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I'm not making any judgements about Bedard until 2029-30. People judged Stamkos as a rookie and was a captain for two of Tampa's three cups. Jack Hughes had a bad rookie season and is New Jersey's best player.

 

[vcanuck]

the voices I heard in my head told me he wants to play with Quinn Hughes

 

[DrDangles]

If Jack Hughes can overcome weighing half a paperweight so can Bedard

 

[Leafshater67]

Bedard is a winger and needs to stay on the wing longterm.

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

Bedard is going to be a really good player, can easily become a top 10 player.

But he isn't the next Crosby/McDavid and I don't think he'll get to the Mack's heights either. Most likely he'll be similar to Hughes in his prime, which is nothing to sneeze at.

I'm curious as to whether his ceiling is going to even be that high. Though of similar stature, Hughes is a significantly better skater, being faster, quicker and a hell of a lot shiftier.

Of course the one thing Bedard has that could be his ace in the hole is his all world shot. There may not be a huge margin keeping him from already scoring goals at a high rate, and if he gets just a bit faster, or just a bit stronger, he might be able to start finding the time and space, or gain the shot velocity to beat NHL goalies like he did the goalies in junior.

Also, we can't forget that players don't all develop linearly. MacKinnon would be exhibit A if you're looking for an example.

Ultimately, the fact of the matter is, based on his hype, he's been incredibly disappointing thus far, which remember people isn't the same as saying he isn't a good player.

 

[Hazy Little Thing]

There are AHL teams that would give him more skill to play with than that roster.

This is just unnecessarily hyperbolic

 

[wolfgaze]

Side Note: does anyone have a .gif of Bruce riding up the escalator at the mall to get ice cream during the filming of the HBO series?

 

[Bender Duster]

The problem with many of the modern rebuilds is these kids are on islands without good role models and they develop bad habits/don't learn good ones.

I think it's a bit unfair to compare style of play to Crosby and Ovie though. They are built differently and came into the league playing a gritty brand of game.

I thought Bedard would be more Kariya lite myself but Paul was light-years ahead in his d plus 2 year in terms of his all around game.

What league was PK playing in at 19?

 

[Beau Knows]

Like a lot of people, I thought Bedard would come in and put up bigger numbers right away (and his numbers for a teenager are still very impressive) but not all players are going to develop at the same rate.

Guys like Crosby and Ovechkin came into the league on day 1 with strength and speed that rivaled the games top players. Bedard has skill, but physically he just isn't on that level right now.

It's still possible Bedard could be the next "generational" type player. If he can get stronger and maybe even a bit faster it will give him more opportunities to show that skill and hopefully take his game to the next level. Even if he doesn't hit that "generational" level, I think he should still be a future 100+ point player with some hardware and a HHOF career.

 

[TKB]

I don't see enough of the Hawks to make a full or fair evaluation, but the little that I have seen this year wis exactly what Biz was describing after the 2nd period tonight.

On a side note, it is not a fair comparison based on playing time /match-ups, and I am in know way saying he is better than Bedard, but I am quite intrigued with Nazar.