C Connor Bedard - Regina Pats, WHL (2023 Draft)

[wetcoast]

Maybe by NCAA teams and Prep schools, but no NHL team is going to allocate resources to scouting 13-year-olds unless they are playing against 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds in a respected league. It's a waste of their time. What good is a draft report on a kid from 5 years prior? The information gathered at that point would be essentially useless by the time it actually matters for an NHL team (assembling their final draft board) These guys have enough on their plate traveling around their regions scouting the draft eligibles and making notes for the next years draft.

And for every McDavid and Crosby, there are a bunch of Patrik Koy's, Alex Forsberg's and John McFarland's.

I agree that NHL teams don't waste their team but I'm sure scouts still have a curiosity factor and might try to talk a glimpse.

 

[grentthealien]

I figure around this time next year we’ll have a good idea of where Bedard fits into things. Similar to Savoie this year who is looking like the real deal.

 

[I am toxic]

I agree that NHL teams don't waste their team but I'm sure scouts still have a curiosity factor and might try to talk a glimpse.

And in fact have.

Yeah, things change a lot between 13 and 18 (and on) but if an ohfive deserves a thread about him, it's probably this one. I will add this - some kids get hyped at a young age because they get on the ice early and more often than their peer group, I don't believe that is the case here. The kids he is going up against/playing alongside mostly started playing hockey early and often - for example ConnorL or Fraser. I can remember Saturday morning practices out at UBC in the spring when ohsix would practice with those guys as a six year old, and it wasn't the Mutants' first spring season.

 

[kyle44]

7 goals and 2 assists for Bedard last night in an 11-3 win.

He’s now up to 43 goals and 60 points in 17 games as an underager.

To put this in perspective, Matthew Savoie had 28 goals and 97 points in 30 games last year in the same league as an underager. Dylan Guenther, the 1st overall pick in the WHL bantam draft last year, had 56 goals and 103 points in 30 games as a regular bantam age player.

 

[I am toxic]

Less than a hat trick per game as an underager?

Bust.

 

[Fight Guy]

Played his first Elite 15 game for his West Van team today. ...scored the only two goals for his team in a 5-2 loss.

 

[NYIschremp44]

Was not overwhelmed with his performance at the WSI. He’s looked very average. Bedard wasn’t very good on faceoffs, stood around a lot and watched the play. Not a lot of hustle when the puck wasn’t on his stick- seemed like he was just coasting. Worst of all he repeatedly tried to force shots and stick handle through multiple defenders and it NEVER worked. In addition to forcing plays that weren’t there, his shifts were always waaay too long (sometimes longer than 2 minutes each), but i guess when you are standing still for most of that time, shift length is no big deal. I understand he was an 05’ playing against 04’s but I watched Savoie and Wright play up at last years WSI and they were way more impressive. Not sure if this kid is deserving of the generational label.

 

[ijuka]

Actually been thinking the same thing. Savoie was better last season, significantly. And Bedard doesn't display the type of maturity in his game that Savoie did. Honestly, he's displaying some traits of a specifically minor league star, perhaps due to superior circumstances with training or something(he's received special skating training?). When he can't just brute force his way through with pure attributes, he seems to struggle and run out of ideas.

I agree that the generational-tag is very premature for him. In general, considering that he's from a league that's not produced very much NHL talent at all, I'll have to wait until he's in WHL to properly gauge just how talented he is as an NHL prospect. But so far, this tournament is a minus. I honestly expected him to do clearly better than Savoie, considering all the hype.

 

[kyle44]

Actually been thinking the same thing. Savoie was better last season, significantly. And Bedard doesn't display the type of maturity in his game that Savoie did. Honestly, he's displaying some traits of a specifically minor league star, perhaps due to superior circumstances with training or something(he's received special skating training?). When he can't just brute force his way through with pure attributes, he seems to struggle and run out of ideas.

I agree that the generational-tag is very premature for him. In general, considering that he's from a league that's not produced very much NHL talent at all, I'll have to wait until he's in WHL to properly gauge just how talented he is as an NHL prospect. But so far, this tournament is a minus. I honestly expected him to do clearly better than Savoie, considering all the hype.

Typical foolishness from this poster; any chance to diminish a promising young player that isn't Finnish. Maybe he hasn't had the best tournament (almost a goal per game), but context matters, and this is one tournament. Bedard is just 13 years old, and Savoie played on an absolutely stacked WSI team composed of 10 first round WHL picks (himself included), including 8 of the first 14 picks in last year's WHL draft. Savoie is undoubtedly the top talent from that team, but they had serious firepower for that age group which led to big numbers for the entire team.

The bolded statement is also nonsensical. The Bantam Division of the CSSHL has essentially been in place since 2014-15, meaning one alumni class has been eligible for the NHL draft (this draft will mark the second class). Since 2014-15 this one league in Western Canada has produced: Ty Smith (first round NHL draft pick), Dylan Cozens (will be a top ten NHL draft pick), and multiple highly-rated players for the 2020-2022 NHL drafts, including Connor McClennon (leading U-17 scorer this year), Kyle Crncovic, Justin Sourdif, Jake Neighbours, Kaiden Guhle, Dylan Guenther, Logan Stankoven, Cole Sillinger, Carson Lambos and Savoie; not to mention several other players who have or will be NHL drafted such as Harrison Blaisdell and Ethan Leyh.

 

[ijuka]

Typical foolishness from this poster; any chance to diminish a promising young player that isn't Finnish. Maybe he hasn't had the best tournament (almost a goal per game), but context matters, and this is one tournament. Bedard is just 13 years old, and Savoie played on an absolutely stacked WSI team composed of 10 first round WHL picks (himself included), including 8 of the first 14 picks in last year's WHL draft. Savoie is undoubtedly the top talent from that team, but they had serious firepower for that age group which led to big numbers for the entire team.

The bolded statement is also nonsensical. The Bantam Division of the CSSHL has essentially been in place since 2014-15, meaning one alumni class has been eligible for the NHL draft (this draft will mark the second class). Since 2014-15 this one league in Western Canada has produced: Ty Smith (first round NHL draft pick), Dylan Cozens (will be a top ten NHL draft pick), and multiple highly-rated players for the 2020-2022 NHL drafts, including Connor McClennon (leading U-17 scorer this year), Kyle Crncovic, Justin Sourdif, Jake Neighbours, Kaiden Guhle, Dylan Guenther, Logan Stankoven, Cole Sillinger, Carson Lambos and Savoie; not to mention several other players who have or will be NHL drafted such as Harrison Blaisdell and Ethan Leyh.

I don't even mention Finns and compare both Shane Wright and Matthew Savoie, both Canadians, favorably to him and you somehow have this as some Finn bias thing? How about you also reply to the post before me, let's see how it'll look when you can't just purely base it around ad hominem. You didn't list a single NHL player, that's exactly my point. The league having been formed in 14-15 is also a part of it. I'll start putting value on Cozens as an NHL comparable when he makes the NHL and does well there.

Looks like you have serious issues with understanding that me thinking Bedard should probably not be considered generational isn't the same thing as me thinking he's a bad hockey player. PPG a year up at WSI is still impressive, and he should still be the top ranked 2005. But he's been a disappointment, and he's done worse than Savoie. Context is one thing, watching them play is another.

 

[kyle44]

The evidence is ample in threads you've posted in across this board. I didn't reply to the poster above because I believe his or her opinion is not agenda-based. Conversely, you take every opportunity to bash the accomplishments and abilities of North American prospects vis-a-vis Finnish prospects and make repeated remarks about Canadian hockey leagues (such as the bolded that I pointed out) that are nonsensical.

 

[ijuka]

The evidence is ample in threads you've posted in across this board. I didn't reply to the poster above because I believe his or her opinion is not agenda-based. Conversely, you take every opportunity to bash the accomplishments of North American prospects vis-a-vis Finnish prospects and make repeated remarks (such as the bolded that I pointed out) that are nonsensical.

Great. The bolded, by the way, is an Ontario vs Western Canada comparison. I've routinely bashed Western Canadian prospects in the past, by the way, including Nolan Patrick since over a year before his draft, where I turned out to be correct by the way. And Cozens is hardly lighting it up himself, as I said, I'll wait for him to impress in NHL. Shane Wright's minor midget league, for example, has had far more NHL success over time, that's simply a fact.

Happy to hear that the opinion that Connor Bedard hasn't looked great or worthy of his "generational" status is valid, though. Looks like you didn't have any issues with what I said about his performance at WSI but decided to use this as an opportunity to attack me personally.

 

[FinnishSniper]

Can someone link the tournament page? Any highlights?

Edit: the tourney page seems to be down or something? By the way accusing someone of being bias just because they are from a different country and disagree with you, is really childish. How are you able to cope with arguments in the real world?

 

[kyle44]

Can someone link the tournament page? Any highlights?

Edit: the tourney page seems to be down or something? By the way accusing someone of being bias just because they are from a different country and disagree with you, is really childish. How are you able to cope with arguments in the real world?

I could care less what country the poster is from or if he/she disagrees with me. The issue I have is that he/she consistently makes statements concerning Canadian hockey that are exaggerated, untrue or nonsensical. He is also present in any thread discussing potential non-Finnish superstars discrediting their play and accomplishments while pumping the tires of Finnish prospects. It is clearly biased and agenda-based. But I digress; the thread is meant to discuss Connor Bedard.

 

[NYIschremp44]

Can someone link the tournament page? Any highlights?

Edit: the tourney page seems to be down or something? By the way accusing someone of being bias just because they are from a different country and disagree with you, is really childish. How are you able to cope with arguments in the real world?

Schedule | World Selects Invitational - USA

I took lots of video of Bedard. This is one of his goals:

 

[Dominance]

Was not overwhelmed with his performance at the WSI. He’s looked very average. Bedard wasn’t very good on faceoffs, stood around a lot and watched the play. Not a lot of hustle when the puck wasn’t on his stick- seemed like he was just coasting. Worst of all he repeatedly tried to force shots and stick handle through multiple defenders and it NEVER worked. In addition to forcing plays that weren’t there, his shifts were always waaay too long (sometimes longer than 2 minutes each), but i guess when you are standing still for most of that time, shift length is no big deal. I understand he was an 05’ playing against 04’s but I watched Savoie and Wright play up at last years WSI and they were way more impressive. Not sure if this kid is deserving of the generational label.

I trust your description of your observations. But from my viewings outside of this tournament, he has shown the polar opposite of what you describe. I’ve been very impressed in particular by his compete and how such a big, strong, and talented kid has the mental maturity to not try to needlessly force things himself.

I love love love Savoie, but I don’t know if I prefer him over Bedard.

 

[Dominance]

Had two absolute beauties in his final game at the WSI amid a strong overall effort. I’ll try to attach highlights of them if I can find ‘em. The kid’s shot and hands are already better than a lot of NHL players at 13.

 

[Delivery Man]

Here's 3 minutes of the best of Bedard. Looks pretty good to me -

 

[Artorius Horus T]

I think this kid is what Maddox Fleming (2022) is to Americans, this kid gets more exposure thou, for obvious reasons.

 

[wings5]

Here's 3 minutes of the best of Bedard. Looks pretty good to me -

He can really pick his spot, reminds me alot of a young Stamkos.

 

[scallionjj11]

 

[Love]

Looks like he’s not even trying

 

[lawrence]

Anyone remember Dustin rose ? Too early but we’ll see.

 

[Procrastinator]

Can anyone shed some insight on this kid? Thanks in advance.

 

[Killerjas]

Can anyone shed some insight on this kid? Thanks in advance.

F Connor Bedard-West Van Academy,CSSBHL(2023 draft)