Prospect Info: Bedard Topic 2

[hawksfan50]

But hecwas playing with "donkeys" before tgse final goal scorongvfizzles last 13 games=onlyv1vgoal! Realky for Mr.Generatiinal Shot not beating goalies in such acdrought is AKARNING ....hexsimplyblooks easier to handle by tge ioos..

I do not know if this is simply thec82cgame grind catching up with an18 year old rookie OR something else..but itvjust does not seem normal Bedard..
And only 1 shot on goal over last 2 games is shocking..Cannot score goals if you shoot that little.

Frankly apart from the occasional nice pass to set up Kurashev,most of his shifts last couple of weeks are far below what he showed before this ending of season dozen or so games..

1 gamecrenaibs to show us the old form..Want to see him get his shots off and hopefully cash in at least 1 more goal bit hopefully more so that we go into next season with more hope he can star rather than worry what went wrong towards end of season.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

But hecwas playing with "donkeys" before tgse final goal scorongvfizzles last 13 games=onlyv1vgoal! Realky for Mr.Generatiinal Shot not beating goalies in such acdrought is AKARNING ....hexsimplyblooks easier to handle by tge ioos..

I do not know if this is simply thec82cgame grind catching up with an18 year old rookie OR something else..but itvjust does not seem normal Bedard..
And only 1 shot on goal over last 2 games is shocking..Cannot score goals if you shoot that little.

Frankly apart from the occasional nice pass to set up Kurashev,most of his shifts last couple of weeks are far below what he showed before this ending of season dozen or so games..

1 gamecrenaibs to show us the old form..Want to see him get his shots off and hopefully cash in at least 1 more goal bit hopefully more so that we go into next season with more hope he can star rather than worry what went wrong towards end of season.

Worstinshnable.. Ithnik.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Anybody else disappointed that he didn't average at least a point per game this season?

Nope, amazed he got what he did playing with who he played with.

 

[belfour30]

Nope, amazed he got what he did playing with who he played with.

He turned Kurashev into a 50 point player.

 

[Hawkaholic]

He turned Kurashev into a 50 point player.

And Foligno went from a healthy scratch to every day 3rd liner

 

[Mjul Qvist]

He must´ve been mentally and physically fatigued. Hopefully he has more quality surroundings next season When was the last time he spoke to media btw?

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Bedard was out for a stretch due to an injury and had a weak finish to end the season, and he still outproduced his rookie class.

Not too shabby.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Bedard was out for a stretch due to an injury and had a weak finish to end the season, and he still outproduced his rookie class.

Not too shabby.

With arguably not another single top 6 player on the team. Kurashev is a fringe 2nd/3rd line guy on a contender, IMO.

 

[dougd]

He must´ve been mentally and physically fatigued. Hopefully he has more quality surroundings next season When was the last time he spoke to media btw?

Agree on the fatigue both M & P.
My biggest hope is that with physical maturation, he is able to increase his skating speed.
At this point..and all season long, he has been easy to track down with opposition forcing him to make plays from between the dots just inside blue line...defence waiting along with closing pursuing forwards... which has resulted in more turnovers than we all would like to see.
With more speed, he will be able to go to the outside more, take puck deeper and evade the clogging that is currently used to inhibit his incredible vision.
Still, he has met my expectation for his first year. Now, get to speed skating and as some other posters have mentioned, give buddy KK some shooting lessons!

 

[Malaka]

Random thought

Do you think bedard *wants* the C?

Or do you think he’d be fine with it going to someone else so he can just focus on the sport he loves and not deal with the extracurricular responsibilities?

As far as marketing would say, it’s probably going to him no matter what — and he will likely usurp Toews as the youngest captain in Blackhawks history before the summer is even over.

 

[Praetorian Caps]

 

[Kevin Musto]

Random thought

Do you think bedard *wants* the C?

Or do you think he’d be fine with it going to someone else so he can just focus on the sport he loves and not deal with the extracurricular responsibilities?

As far as marketing would say, it’s probably going to him no matter what — and he will likely usurp Toews as the youngest captain in Blackhawks history before the summer is even over.

He would never come out and say he wants to be captain.

And I can't read his mind.

But I do know that he would rise to the occasion.

 

[Giovi]

Random thought

Do you think bedard *wants* the C?

Or do you think he’d be fine with it going to someone else so he can just focus on the sport he loves and not deal with the extracurricular responsibilities?

As far as marketing would say, it’s probably going to him no matter what — and he will likely usurp Toews as the youngest captain in Blackhawks history before the summer is even over.

The first few months he was a Hawk, many here talked about it like it was a forgone conclusion. But just because the guy is an elite talent, it doesn't automatically make him captain material.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

next C should be Bedard, seen some comments that people think it should be Foligno because he's being a good vet, don't waste the year or two, just go with Bedard like they did with Toews

 

[Giovi]

next C should be Bedard, seen some comments that people think it should be Foligno because he's being a good vet, don't waste the year or two, just go with Bedard like they did with Toews

I'd far rather see him spending the next season or more refining his game, without the added stress of wearing the C.

 

[WarLax]

Bring Kane back in for 2 years, give him the C.

Bedard becomes the C when his big contract starts.

My most meatball-iest of meatball takes.

 

[Kevin Musto]

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I've been on HF public record saying Bedard's (lack of) speed is limiting him - apparently he agrees - from Ben Popes tweet:

Connor Bedard said he'll spend most of the summer back home in Vancouver. The biggest thing he'll work on training-wise is his speed.

Every player is different but I recall DCat's speed lacking in his first season too. Then the following season he came back with a noticeable uptick in speed and it helped his game quite a bit.

 

[Kevin Musto]

I've been on HF public record saying Bedard's (lack of) speed is limiting him - apparently he agrees - from Ben Popes tweet:

Connor Bedard said he'll spend most of the summer back home in Vancouver. The biggest thing he'll work on training-wise is his speed.

Every player is different but I recall DCat's speed lacking in his first season too. Then the following season he came back with a noticeable uptick in speed and it helped his game quite a bit.

He would be scarier than he already is if he could skate like Nazar

 

[TLEH]

He definitely could be faster, but the word “limiting” being used just rubs me wrong. I get your point but hard to use that word with Bedard.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Bedard's skating, as well as all his other attributes, makes him elite at entering the offensive zone. It's good enough to get him into the zone, but he isn't passing by enough defenders to cause odd man rushes or breakdowns in coverage.

Hopefully he can improve his skating stride and probably his first few steps, make it so he's blowing past defenders in the neutral zone more often and giving him clearer looks off the rush. Too often this year he's had to pull up at the blue line and look to hit someone in stride.

If this kid makes strides in his top speed, with his shot and creativity, watch out, because he's hitting that generational upside everyone has talked about with him.

 

[Chelios]

Every player is different but I recall DCat's speed lacking in his first season too. Then the following season he came back with a noticeable uptick in speed and it helped his game quite a bit.

Yup, Cat took huge strides (pun intended) in his skating over his first few years. Kane too got noticeably faster over his first several years. I have no doubt Bedard will progress as well. To me, Bedard has good bursts in speed but just isn’t able to sustain that for long distances. His form is good. I think with added strength and power he will improve his skating.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Yup, Cat took huge strides (pun intended) in his skating over his first few years. Kane too got noticeably faster over his first several years. I have no doubt Bedard will progress as well. To me, Bedard has good bursts in speed but just isn’t able to sustain that for long distances. His form is good. I think with added strength and power he will improve his skating.

Yep - he's still just 18 - for the next 3 months. He won't even hit his man strength peak for several years.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

He definitely could be faster, but the word “limiting” being used just rubs me wrong. I get your point but hard to use that word with Bedard.

It didn't happen every game but there were more than a few times during the season where he had a chance to go in alone on the goalie where the chance was foiled because the opposing d-man caught him - to me, in those instances, his lack of straight line speed limited him. I think his edges and agility isvery good and not a problem at all - but his "get from point-A to point-B in a straight line" needs to be faster. I don't know if that means he needs a better burst or more stamina or both - but it's nice to hear he sees it as something to work on and I have no doubt he will do whatever it takes to improve.

 

[TLEH]

It didn't happen every game but there were more than a few times during the season where he had a chance to go in alone on the goalie where the chance was foiled because the opposing d-man caught him - to me, in those instances, his lack of straight line speed limited him. I think his edges and agility isvery good and not a problem at all - but his "get from point-A to point-B in a straight line" needs to be faster. I don't know if that means he needs a better burst or more stamina or both - but it's nice to hear he sees it as something to work on and I have no doubt he will do whatever it takes to improve.

I think he definitely can improve on it a lot. he obviously identified it too.. but my takeaway was more often than not, it was him having shifts that were too long, than just purely lacking speed in general.