Star Power: Connor Bedard Nabs Another NHL Honor

Maybe they can just hand Connor Bedard the Calder Trophy while they’re honoring him again this week. For a stellar week of hockey that included a five point performance (1-4) in Tuesday’s 7-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, Bedard has been the named the NHL’s second star of the week, triumphed only by Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov who is likely in the Hart Memorial Trophy conversation, too.

It shows that not only is he the second star of the week, Bedard’s star continues to rise on a rebuilding Blackhawks team.

Another Month, Another Award For Connor Bedard

Make no mistake, he won’t draw any attention to it and any mention of it will generate the same even response from the 18-year-old rookie. But Bedard continues to add accolades to his name, and not just with hardware. He tied Eddie Olyczyk’s mark as the only 18-year-old in franchise history to score 20 goals in a season. That was met in the same game where he tied the 70-year-old franchise record for most points in a game by a rookie.

There has been a chorus of voices believing that Minnesota Wild rookie defenseman Brock Faber should push Bedard for the Calder Memorial Trophy. It’s intriguing as the latter has all but carried the Blackhawks at times this season. Without him, Chicago’s offense struggled mightily.

Further, Bedard is just a point shy of being a point-per-game this season 54 games through. Every expectation saddled to him entering the season has been met, and in some cases, exceeded. While he won’t catch Steve Larmer (90), Artemi Panarin (77), Denis Savard (75), or Patrick Kane (72) in rookie points for a season, there’s a solid argument that his current pace could still potentially catch Jeremy Roenick’s 66 points back in 1990, tying him for fifth all-time amongst Blackhawks rookies.

Bedard Still Has Time To Be Top Five Rookie in Season Points

All of the top five played 76 or more games in their rookie campaign. He’s already passed Alex DeBrincat (52 points in 82 games) and has Jonathan Toews (54 points in 64 games) in his sights. The most impressive part of all?  Bedard has far and away played on a team significantly worse than any of the previous names did. Even Kane and Toews, whose rookie seasons were both in 2007-08, played on a squad that finished above .500.

The other names all played on playoff teams–albeit in different eras–but surrounded by more talent. This isn’t to besmirch the names on the roster–knowing that this team was in a rebuild. If anything, it shows just how good Bedard is.

This will be another in a long line of awards for Connor Bedard. But the one he’d tell you matters most will be the Stanley Cup.

At this rate, once the roster is stocked with the talent that once flanked Kane and Toews, the Cup conversation may happen even sooner than expected.

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