Bedard had a great debut with the Blackhawks and compared to the past five first overall picks before him, was far more impactful.
Bedard had a great debut with the Blackhawks and compared to the past five first overall picks before him, was far more impactful.
Before the Chicago Blackhawks drafted Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in 2023, four different teams had the No. 1 selection in the five previous seasons.
These players were three forwards and two defensemen, and not all of them even played their rookie season immediately after being drafted or as an 18-year-old as Bedard did in 2023-24. The Blackhawks center skated for arguably the worst of the past five teams who chose first overall and was the most impressive.
Before Bedard went to the Blackhawks last June:
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Bedard's Immediate Impact
Bedard proved he is a generational talent right off the hop. He played his entire rookie season in the NHL as an 18-year-old, centered the top line of the Blackhawks all season, and was nearly a point-per-game player.
He scored 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games to lead rookies while logging 19:47 of ice time per game. Bedard proved he was the most impactful and best player on the team, and did so while having the focus on him every night.
To make things tougher, the Blackhawks were riddled by injuries. That allowed opponents to focus even more on covering Bedard.
Bedard had next to no help all season in terms of production. Taylor Hall, who Chicago brought in to support Bedard on his wing, suffered a right ACL tear after only playing 10 games and had season-ending surgery. Philipp Kurashev stepped up and broke out as Bedard's regular linemate, but the rookie still drove play and was the main reason for the production on the top line and power play.
Bedard's plus/minus (minus-44) and that of many Blackhawks players was not great, but that's expected of a player on a 31st ranked team facing the top lines of every other team around the league.
Bedard will likely win the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in the NHL, and if he doesn't there's absolutely no way he finishes lower than second to fellow finalist and Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber. Among the previous five first overall picks, only two of them were among the three finalists for the Calder Trophy (Buffalo D-men Power and Dahlin). The other three were not even close to sniffing it.
Juraj Slafkovsky Had a Year 2 Breakout
Some people thought drafting Slafkovsky first overall was a mistake, but in his second season he's showing everyone why they were wrong to doubt him. Not all players develop at the same rate and the Canadiens were ahead of where the Blackhawks are this season, providing Slafkovsky with less of an opportunity than Bedard.
If Slafkovsky was as dominant as Bedard in his rookie season then playing top-6 minutes wouldn't have been an issue. Instead, he was injured after only 39 games and missed the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
He could have done well with a bit of time in the AHL had he not been injured, but the big winger only produced four goals and 10 points regardless. Slafkovsky was nowhere near the level Bedard was at and played seven fewer minutes per game.
Power Came in Late and Made His Mark
Power, a 6-foot-6 defenseman, was the only recent first overall pick to not head to the NHL right off the bat. Instead he returned to the University of Michigan for a sophomore season in 2021-22, then signed with the Sabres in April 2022 after the Wolverines were eliminated. Power played eight games with Buffalo that month, then skated most of his full rookie pro season, 2022-23, at age 20. The extra year can make a big difference for rookies.
Power had a strong rookie season and although it is tougher to compare forwards directly to defensemen, Bedard was still the best player on his team while Power was not. The Sabres have been rebuilding for far too long and have some good players, but Power didn't make as much of an impact on the back-end and overall as Bedard did up front.
Power did have one of the better rookie seasons recently among first overall picks with four goals and 35 points in 79 games while logging 23:48. He just doesn't have the same game-driving ability as Bedard demonstrated and had an advantage being one season and two years more developed.
Lafreniere Had a Start to Forget
Lafreniere had a tough start to his NHL career, and not all of it was his fault. His draft year, 2020, was shut down by COVID, so coming into the NHL that season without getting as many reps as players typically do definitely threw his game off. He also got drafted by a good Rangers team that didn't and still doesn't offer as much ice-time opportunity for young players.
The Rangers' power play was set and it was difficult to crack the top-6 for a while for Lafreniere. He only scored 12 goals and 21 points in 56 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season as a rookie. It has taken him until this season to really turn up his game and start to reach his potential.
Lafreniere played less than 14 minutes per game as a 19-year-old first-year NHLer. He has always had a great shot and finishing ability, but has 12 total power play points in his career and still isn't on the top unit. He didn't get as many chances as Bedard, but it also took him abnormally long as a first overall pick to develop and start to break out.
Hughes Turned Superstar, But Not Quite Yet
Hughes had a similar introduction into the NHL that Lafreniere had, nowhere close to the level Bedard was on. Hughes' injury problems has held him back in his young career, but injuries were not what caused him have a rough first season in 2019-20 with only seven goals and 21 points in 61 games before COVID hit in March 2020.
It took Hughes a couple of seasons to find some finishing ability and he didn't earn top line minutes as a rookie. He might have become a star in his third season in the league with 26 goals and 56 points in just 49 games in 2021-22, but that's two years later than Bedard.
Dahlin Started His Career Off With a Bang
Though the Sabres have been rebuilding for a while, drafting Dahlin was the real turning point for the team. It gave the Sabres a potential No. 1 defenseman and he proved that he was gearing up to be just that.
Dahlin may have had nine goals and 44 points as a rookie defenseman on Buffalo, but he didn't become a true top defenseman until age 21 (his fourth season). He struggled with consistency, something Bedard already has, even after missing 14 games of rookie season with a broken jaw. Once again, the Sabres' D-men drafted first overall came the closest to Bedard, but were not nearly as impactful or dominant every night.
The Blackhawks have something special with Bedard. He did things as an 18-year-old that few NHL rookies have.
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