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

[SimpleJack]

Oilers fan here. By his standards, McDavid has looked downright average on far too many nights this season.

And this is why he's the best player on the planet. Because he's still producing at pretty much the same clip as Drai/the league leaders....and yet as you say he's not even having a good season. I'm guessing he's gonna go nuclear during the post season. Again.

 

[HockeyWooot]

Use Jack Hughes as a comparable, he’ll be fine.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

106 pts in 120 games, on pure crap lines, on a pure crap team, coached by a clown part of that time. And opposing teams get to focus on him. Seems like he's doing fine. I'll judge him more critically when he's surrounded by more talent.

 

[SimpleJack]

106 pts in 120 games, on pure crap lines, on a pure crap team, coached by a clown part of that time. And opposing teams get to focus on him. Seems like he's doing fine. I'll judge him more critically when he's surrounded by more talent.

100% this. He is without question doing just fine. Yet no matter how many times this gets repeated, there will still be posters ignoring it/questioning it/playing stupid. Or they just are stupid. Who knows.

 

[Soundwave]

As an Oilers fan just what I have seen from him in the couple of times we've played them

- Definitely a very high level talent, really impressive shot release, doesn't use it quite enough.

- Isn't quite as fast and dynamic of a skater which is sort of the big limiter on him I think.

- I still expect him to be a top end player

- Chicago needs to get their shit together and really improve the team over the summer because you don't want this to go for several more years. He needs a lot more talent to play with.

 

[Ghetty Green]

Celebrini clears

Easily

 

[Video Nasty]

Crosby fans were talking down to young McDavid to discredit him back in the day too. And it was annoying and cringe back then just like it is now with McDavid fans doing the same thing to Bedard.

Crosby and McDavid were instantly among the best players in the game upon arrival. We didn’t have to wait long for them to show it and we didn’t have to make excuses for them. They each won the Hart, Pearson/Lindsay, and Art Ross in their sophomore seasons.

I’m a big Bedard supporter and as wretched as Chicago is, I’m still a bit disappointed with his overall production. I’m perplexed by the number of goals he has up to this point, particularly wince he came out and rifled 9 in his first 13 games. 28 over his past 108 is very surprising to me—I thought he might pot 50 as a rookie, and he might not even total that through his first 2 seasons. He desperately needs pieces around him and it needs to happen soon before all these bad habits and vibes become engrained, though I still believe he will have a great career.

Crosby and McDavid are on different tiers than Bedard and likely always will be. No one is hating on or trying to discredit Bedard by stating this fact that is becoming ever more obvious.

 

[Divine]

 

[hirawl]

It's laughable how they let him drag out his shifts while not skating back. Way he's blowing defensive assignments and is cheating for offense and is making low percentage plays. Etc etc. It's absolutely mind boggling.

And I'm not blaming Bedard. He is what he is at this point in time and he's still got all the talent to become an elite player. I put this solely on the coaching staff. Grow a f***ing pair and start holding him accountable and things just might turn out great in the long run. I hate to see what's happening there. Hate it.

 

[1989]

Bedard still oozes potential but to me, in admittedly limited viewings, his warts come from lack of good on-ice support from better teammates.

He's basically on an island out there and in nitpicking his bad plays, I see a kid trying to find a way to compensate for team weaknesses by himself. I don't necessarily see him as a puck hog but he just can't trust anyone else. He panics because he can't find a better play.

Sure, he's not the next McDavid but to me he's a serious MacKinnon-level possible talent - if he gets there it can't be just by himself because hockey rosters cannot succeed on the strength of a star alone.

 

[Oddbob]

Pretty sure he is playing with no one of note. Hard to expect much when he is playing with lower tier players on a bad team.

 

[Pancakes]

Not sure I like the Hughes comparison other than that Jack also struggled to reach the heights expected of him in his first few seasons.

But Hughes had/has skating gifts that Bedard will never have.

Bedard and Kane is a better comparison, though Bedard lacks Kanes hockey iq. That's not to say that Bedard has bad hockey iq but more that Kane had some of the best hockey sense and playmaking of any player that's entered the league since 2007.

 

[Bank Shot]

Not sure I like the Hughes comparison other than that Jack also struggled to reach the heights expected of him in his first few seasons.

But Hughes had/has skating gifts that Bedard will never have.

Bedard and Kane is a better comparison, though Bedard lacks Kanes hockey iq. That's not to say that Bedard has bad hockey iq but more that Kane had some of the best hockey sense and playmaking of any player that's entered the league since 2007.

What about Tavares as a Bedard comp?

Both were ridiculous goal scorers at the junior level and got some major hype predraft.

Both suffer from slow boots.

 

[eklund2chicago]

This thread is going to look so stupid in the future. The guy played with Slaggert and Donato last night. He is 19 and has scored 107 point in 121 games with bottom six guys as his linemates. He is still the second youngest player in the league. How many teenagers has produced like that with so little help?

People talk about how weak he is etc. If he would have played in Minnesota with Kaprizov and putting up 100 points no one would said that. Everybody would have talked about how great he his. He is on an island right now and that is not his fault. Stop judging him until he gets some competent linemates and stop hating on him just because you hate Chicago.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Needs to get more powerful/explosive. Needs a proven coach and needs more support.

Needs to stop skating around like he's playing in juniors and realize he's playing against grown men at a higher level.

 

[frontsfan67]

Mackinnon and Hughes were far from special early on. Bedard is on pace for 75 points on a tire fire of a team. He’s physically immature and doesn’t have help. It’s impressive when most people can pick apart holes in his game and acknowledge this team is brutal and that he’s also almost a PPG player.

Give the kid 2-3 years here. He can’t even drink in the city he resides in.

MacKinnon was Rookie of the year. Hughes on the other hand…

Following year Mack got injured I’m pretty sure and Colorado was horrible for a few years. Year 5 big breakout season 97 pts and hasn’t looked back since.

Makes you appreciate Crosby, Ovechkin and McDavid that much more- being great from year 1. Bedard can still be an elite or franchise level talent but there’s no way he is generational. People toss that word around way too much nowadays

 

[John Price]

Bruce is the man I was sitting at a restaurant outside the arena on Tuesday night before the game and noticed he was a few tables down just minding his own business eating by himself

Was going to say something to him but didn't want to bother him

 

[frontsfan67]

Crosby fans were talking down to young McDavid to discredit him back in the day too. And it was annoying and cringe back then just like it is now with McDavid fans doing the same thing to Bedard.

Bedard will NEVER be McDavid. McDavid averaged over a ppg his rookie year. Second year put up 100 points and he’s put up or been pace for 100+ points ever since.

3 harts, 4 lindsays, 5 art rosses, a rocket Richard, a conn smythe despite being the losing team, multiple NHL all star awards and multiple fastest skater awards (so far and just turned 28)

3rd all time in PPG in both the regular season and playoffs only behind 99 + 66 respectively

Youngest captain in NHL history too.

Bedard will be a great player but comparing him to McDavid or Crosby is laughable

 

[bleedgreen]

There’s so many people openly rooting against this kid that this thread is inspiring me to be more of a fan. He’s playing for a shit team and isn’t a large guy. Why would you be “scared” of him? I watched last night and he has to do almost everything himself, and he makes a good effort of it. He’s a sniper at his best to this point, and I do think he’s worth the hype there. His shot is off the charts for his age.

 

[WarriorofTime]

A bit unfortunate timing for the Biz comments. They’re actually not entirely unfair just didn’t really apply to the game as a whole.

“The Blackhawks’ line of Ryan Donato, Bedard and Landon Slaggert was a big reason for the Blackhawks’ analytical success. Despite often going up against Connor McDavid’s line, Bedard’s line had a 14-7 edge in shot attempts, 6-3 in shots on goal, 8-3 in scoring chances and 1-0 in goals while on the ice.”

 

[Bank Shot]

This thread is going to look so stupid in the future. The guy played with Slaggert and Donato last night. He is 19 and has scored 107 point in 121 games with bottom six guys as his linemates. He is still the second youngest player in the league. How many teenagers has produced like that with so little help?

Well John Tavares finished 28th in league scoring his second year in the show playing with wingers such as Matt Moulson, PA Parenteau, Micheal Grabner, and Blake Comeau.

Bedard is currently at 44th in league scoring, so the career arcs aren't looking crazy different thus far.

Rick Nash co-won the Rocket his second year in the league with no help on that Columbus team.

A Tavares or Nash level career would be pretty good for any player, but it would be way off the predraft hype that Bedard received.

 

[Castle8130]

The negativity in this thread is going too far. Having said that, this clip is 100% accurate. Biz isn't being over the top at all. This is more constructive criticism than a bashing of Bedard. I love what Lundqvist said after Biz's statement. There needs to be accountability or the players following Bedards lead are going to pick up terrible playing habits. If other players get benched for doing flybys, Bedard should be as well. You have to hold the entire team to the same standard. The Hawks are spoiling their young talent into a very non-winning playstyle.

 

[mphmiles]

My attempt to be objective on his play this year:

-There's no getting around the fact that his on-ice results this year have been really poor. The two way metrics of everyone he gets on the ice with get significantly worse.

CHI 2425 Bedard Replacements

Visualizations and predictions for understanding hockey.

hockeyviz.com

-The fact that Bedard isn't getting the toughest matchups and a good amount of other players on Chicago have better two-way numbers doesn't give credence to the idea that he's struggling there because he has no help.

-What we're still trying to figure out is whether this is ability related, coaching related, or something else.

-It's possible that he's cheating the game to a significant level to sell out to produce points, because he knows that if he doesn't, no one else can score and Chicago can't win. That's something we saw a lot from Draisaitl and a little bit from McDavid early on in their careers.

-It's possible that he's just struggling with aspects of the 200 foot game that almost all 19 year olds struggle with and is being held to an unrealistic standard- but that's the way it goes when you're a player with the "generational" tag.

I also think Celebrini at his age is special as a two way player and that's doing even more for unrealistic expectations when it comes to Bedard.

 

[Warden of the North]

He reminds me of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in his first few years.

 

[Voight]

[mod]

He was hyped as the next McDavid, or Crosby.

Both of those guys won't the Hart and Art Ross in their second season.

Bedard is literally light years behind their trajectory. Scoring is higher than its been in 25 years, and yet he's not even managed to be a point per game player which is what you'd expect out of any top line forward, let alone a guy hyped as "the next Crosby/McDavid".

I mean for comparison sake, McDavid had the 3rd highest ppg as a Rookie. What was Bedard's rank as a rookie? Like 100th?

Both also had more talent around them FWIW.