Connor Bedard is about to start his first season in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks and he comes in as one of the most exciting prospects ever. The Blackhawks know all about great rookies as they were graced with having Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane come into the league in 2007 and they would eventually lead the Blackhawks to three Stanly Cup Championships.
Kane and Toews both had great rookies years as they scored 24 and 21 goals respectively, but many fans are expecting much more from Bedard.
Can Connor Bedard Be The Best NHL Rookie Ever?
Bedard has been nothing short of amazing in his amateur career and is coming off a season in which he scored 71 goals for the Regina Pats “C” team. He scored 51 goals the year before, but he isn’t just a goal scorer as he had 121 assists in those two years.
He has been great and all reports out of Blackhawks camp is that he has been as good as advertised. The question now is if he is the greatest rookie to ever come into the league?
He is definitely coming in with as much hype as any rookie to come into the league in a long time, but just how good is he?
We don’t have to look to far to get a good comparison as Alexander Ovechkin went off in his first year for the Capitals scoring 52 goals in 81 games. He also added 54 assists to tie for third in league scoring. His season is going to be hard to beat.
If we go a bit further back to the early 90’s Teemu Selanne came in and scored an incredible 76 goals for the Winnipeg Jets in his first season and added 56 assists.
The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, burst on to the scene in 1979 as he scored 51 goals and had 86 assists to give him an NHL-leading 137 points for the Oilers. Gretzky would go on to break numerous records, but his first season will go down as one of the best.
Those three had some of the best seasons ever for a rookie and will be hard to top, but Bedard has all the tools to be just as good. The Blackhawks, though, weren’t very good last year and it could keep Bedard from putting up ridiculous numbers.
Bedard is going to be good and is one of the most talented rookies ever, but is he the best? Time will tell, but on the surface, he still looks like he is just behind the three mentioned above, at least for the time being.
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