Connor Bedard Wins the Calder Trophy as NHL’s Best Rookie

It really shouldn’t come as a surprise, right? Be it the Michigan goal, or the numbers he put up on a historically poor Blackhawks team, it shouldn’t be a shock that Connor Bedard was voted the league’s best rookie Thursday night. The 18-year-old Blackhawks center captured the Calder Memorial Trophy, the hardware for the most proficient rookie in the league.

Not even a 14-game layoff due to a broken jaw could cool his play, even though some believed Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber notched an impressive season of his own.

In the end, though, Bedard was too important to the Blackhawks in terms of production and scoring, leading the team in assists and points. He tied for the lead with Jason Dickinson notching 22 goals.

Connor Bedard Was The Front Runner At the Start of the Season

It was a wire-to-wire win for Bedard, who was the odds on favorite at the beginning of the season to win the Calder. He started with a point in each game and recorded 11 multi-point games this season. Bedard also tied a Blackhawks single game record with five points (1-4) in Chicago’s 7-2 win over Anaheim back on March 12th. That was on the heels of a three point performance against the Arizona Coyotes a game prior.

The only elusive milestone was a hat trick, which he flirted with several times during the season but never seemed too preoccupied with when asked about it. With yet another hardware win, the focus for the Blackhawks now is building around the generational Bedard to ease the burden on him offensively–while also opening more ability to take his game to the next level.

So no surprise as Bedard wins the Calder. Now the focus turns to the offseason and draft as the Blackhawks build to bring home the trophy both they and Connor Bedard want most.

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