The NHL's top draft pick of 2023 joined two legends — Sidney Crosby and Steve Yzerman — with the feat and mostly lived up to the hype.
The NHL's top draft pick of 2023 joined two legends — Sidney Crosby and Steve Yzerman — with the feat and mostly lived up to the hype.
Chicago Blackhawks rookie sensation Connor Bedard became just the third player in NHL history to lead his team in points at the age of 18.
Bedard joined Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (2005-06) and Detroit's Steve Yzerman (1983-84) as the only 18-year-olds to accomplish this feat. Bedard finished the 2023-24 season with 61 points, seven ahead of linemate Philipp Kurashev who came in second on Chicago.
Bedard missed 14 games this season after his jaw was fractured on Jan. 5 in New Jersey. This limited his rookie campaign, but Bedard came back strong following his return on Feb. 15 — against Crosby and the Penguins —recording seven goals and 28 points in his final 29 games. Before getting knocked out of the lineup by Devils defenseman Brendan Smith's hit, he had 15 goals and 33 points in 39 games.
Bedard is considered a generational talent with an amazing shot, but his shooting percentage fell after returning and he assisted on more goals. In 39 games before getting hurt, Bedard's shooting percentage was 12.7% on 118 shots. After coming back, it was 8% on 88 shots.
Bedard led all rookies with 206 shots, breaking Doug Wilson's Blackhawks record for a first-year player.
Being one of only three players to ever lead a team in points at 18 years old is very impressive. That wasn't Bedard's only accomplishment this season. He also finished 11th in all-time in scoring in a season by a player 18 years of age or younger.
Besides Wayne Gretzky, every player ahead of Bedard on the list played at least 73 games, whereas he only played 68 on a very bad Blackhawks team that finished at 23-53-6 and 31st place. Chicago also was depleted by injuries, allowing opponents to focus more closely on covering the star rookie.
The most points by a player aged 18 or younger in a season was 103 by Winnipeg's Dale Hawerchuk in 1981-82. At Bedard's point pace, if he had played a full 82-game season, he would have finished with 73 points, moving him up the rankings to fifth, ahead of Gretzky (45 games played).
Blackhawks players, coaches and management lauded Bedard on his rookie season.
"Yeah, I think it was incredible," general manager Kyle Davidson said. "I was really, really impressed. I don't think, you know, many other players could walk in and do that and do what he did."
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