Connor Bedard’s NHL career is off to a fast start. He is the clear favorite to win the 2024 Calder Trophy, and his numbers compare quite favorably to the player who won that award a decade ago, Nathan MacKinnon.
Through his first 30 NHL games, Bedard has delivered on the expectations of a No. 1 overall pick. Bedard leads the Chicago Blackhawks in goals (12), assists (14), and points (26), and he already looks like a future superstar, especially when you look at what MacKinnon did as a rookie.
Back in 2013-14, MacKinnon got his first taste of NHL hockey with the Colorado Avalanche. Through his first 30 games, MacKinnon tallied six goals, 12 assists, and 18 points. Those are solid numbers, but they don’t quite compare with what Bedard has already accomplished to this point.
In all fairness to MacKinnon, he only got more comfortable as his rookie campaign progressed, and he wound up tallying 18 goals and 45 points in his final 52 games. That powered him to a Calder Trophy win, and MacKinnon has evolved into one of the very best players in the league. Just a couple of years ago, MacKinnon led the Avs in scoring as they rolled to a Stanley Cup victory.
If Bedard can progress as well as MacKinnon, the sky’s the limit for him, especially since he had not played under the best circumstances this season. Bedard has played a lot with Philipp Kurashev and Nick Foligno, who have been fine, but they aren’t top-line caliber players. Once the Hawks improve the talent around Bedard, his production will only increase.
For the time being, Bedard makes an otherwise terrible team very fun to watch, and it will be interesting to see just how gaudy his rookie numbers get.
