Connor Bedard is one of the more polarizing figures in the National Hockey League today. The promising young phenom had an excellent rookie season in 2024 winning the Calder trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year. Unfortunately, year 2 did not go the way that was expected.
The reason Bedard is such a controversial figure in the NHL world has little to do with him or his personality. It is because of the sky high expectations placed on him from the media as he was one of the most highly anticipated prospects to enter the league in the modern game.
Despite once again leading his Blackhawks team in production last season; joining Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Dale Hawerchuk as the only teenagers in the history of the game to lead their team in points back to back seasons before turning 20, many pundits still deemed his year disappointing as he was once again in the 60 point range. He did not take the step forward most saw coming.
With that being said, fellow 1st overall pick and Calder winner Patrick Kane sees no reason to worry about Connor. The current Red Wing and former Blackhawks legend appeared on the “Blackhawks Breakaway Podcast” today and had high praise for Bedard. Notably, Patrick stated he believes Bedard has a bright future ahead of him. Kane mentioned seeing the possibility of Bedard developing the type of chemistry with Frank Nazar as he had with now Winnipeg Jet Jonathan Toews.
For Blackhawks fans feeling uneasy about the teams future, this has to be some reassurance hearing such a statement from arguably the best player the franchise has ever seen. Time will tell whether Kane’s statement holds true. The hockey world will be closely watching.
